I do not own TMNT.

The sounds of laughter had petered out. There was only silence now, until Raphael's voice broke through it. "Mikey. Mikeeeey. You might as well just give up now because I'm going to fiiiiind you."

Raphael examined his options. The service tunnel that he'd chased Mikey into had ended. There were two large-diameter drainage pipes that connected to it. But, which one to choose? He was pretty sure that he had heard Mikey's last giggles coming from his right, so that's the way he went.

He'd only made it a few hundred yards when he found his first candy wrapper. "I knew it! You'd better not eat all of it!" Raphael was going to follow that up with an elaborate threat, but his voice cracked in a manner that made him sound far less serious than he actually was. Stupid puberty, taking away his dignity like that. At least he had new muscle mass, which he decided to put to good use. He slammed his fist into his open hand and continued walking.

The concrete pipe split off into two narrower ones. Raphael wasn't sure that he would fit into them, but apparently, Mikey had managed. The orange-banded thief was nowhere to be seen, and he couldn't have doubled back. There was no way that he would've been able to pass by Raphael without him knowing. "Mikey!" Raph yelled. "Don't you make me crawl through those pipes after you!"

"Ha! Like you could fit!" Mikey's teasing voice echoed. "Beefcake! Beefcaaaake!"

Raphael leaned in. "You know, you've got to come home eventually, Mikey, preferably before Master Splinter gets back. You might think that you're escaping me now, but sooner or later I'll be wearing your shell as a hat."

"That's gross, Raphie."

"Give me back my Halloween candy, and we can forget this whole thing ever happened," Raphael generously offered.

"No deal," Mikey giggled. Raph could hear him crawling deeper.

"That's it!" Raphael hopped into the pipe. He may be the family beefcake, but he was really no wider than Mikey. It was their shell size that was the limiting factor when it came to squeezing through pipes, not their muscle mass. Raphael army-crawled with impressive speed, his technique far better than Mikey's. Perhaps because Mikey was slowed by having to carry the ill-begotten bag of Halloween candy.

Raphael had almost caught up! He could see a light at the end of the pipe, indicating that they were coming to a stormwater collection chamber. Raphael prepared to lunge. He could taste victory, as sweet as candy.

Mikey dove for the pipe's opening. He put as much speed and power into it as he could, knowing that Raph was about to grab him by the ankles. Mikey made it about halfway through and then, he just stopped! "Oh no!" Mikey cried.

Raphael grabbed his lower legs. "Gotcha, ya little worm! Now, back up and fork over the candy."

Mikey wriggled around, but he couldn't budge. His arms and the upper half of his body were sticking out of the pipe, hanging about twenty feet above the bottom of the stormwater collection chamber. From the waist down, he was stuck in the pipe. He tried to push through to freedom, but it was no use.

"Get back here!" Raphael insisted, as he yanked at Mikey's ankles.

Mikey began to panic. He made the rash decision to actually request Raph's help. "Pull harder, Raph!"

At that, Raphael actually stopped tugging entirely. "What?"

"Pull harder. I think that I'm stuck," Michelangelo admitted, the embarrassment clear on his voice.

Raphael erupted into laughter. "You're stuck. Ha! Serves you right! Maybe if you laid off the candy to begin with, you wouldn't be in this mess!"

"Stop laughing at me or I'll drop it into the water," Michelangelo threatened.

"You do that and I'm leaving you here!" Raphael snapped back.

"No! Don't leave me!" Mikey begged. It was well known amongst the guys that Michelangelo had a terrible fear of loneliness. He was the type of turtle that needed an audience at all times.

"If you want me to stay, then play nice," Raphael insisted.

"Okay," Mikey sniffed.

"Oh jeez. You aren't crying. Are you?" Raphael barked.

"No!" Mikey lied. "Just, pull my legs, would you?!"

Raphael did just that, and Mikey tried his best to wriggle backward. Nothing was helping.

"I think we'd better call in the big guns," Raphael finally decided.

"Don't call Leo!" Mikey pleaded. "He'll tell on us."

Raphael grinned. "I'm not calling Leo. I'm calling Donnie."

Raphael used the prototype cell phone that Donatello had developed to give the budding genius a call. If Don had been irritated that the experiment he had been running needed to be interrupted, he didn't let on about it.

Fifteen minutes later, Donatello appeared at another entryway to the stormwater collection chamber, weighed down by a heavy bag of supplies. Mikey was so happy to see him. Raph had been torturing him by tickling his feet this whole time.

Donatello put on some sort of harness and tossed a weighted rope over the top of a pipe that was hanging from the ceiling. "Well, this is some predicament that you've gotten yourself into, Mikey," his voice echoed through the chamber.

Donatello caught the rope and connected it to some sort of doohickey. He then pulled on one end and lifted off of the ground. Once he reached the overhead pipe, Don climbed across, then lowered himself halfway back down so that he was hanging directly in front of Mikey.

The first thing that Don did was swipe the bag of candy with a firm "Give me that!" The second thing that he did was offer a buck-toothed smile and pet Mikey's bald head. "Don't worry. We'll get you out," he promised.

Donatello put the candy in the duffel that was hanging from his shoulders. He then pulled out a can of WD40 and sprayed it between the pipe and Mikey's shell. When he was satisfied, Don prompted, "Okay, Raphie. You push, I pull."

Don grabbed Mikey beneath his upper arms and planted his toes on the lip of the pipe. Donatello pulled with all his might, and Raphael pushed as hard as he could. Mikey squirmed with renewed vigor. There was still no budging him.

Eventually, Michelangelo couldn't take it anymore. "Stop! You're pulling my arms out of the sockets!"

Donatello let go, which caused him to swing away from Mikey. He dangled there, rolling his own shoulders and rubbing his chin. "Man. You are really stuck in there good. I guess it's on to plan B."

"Which is?" Mikey prompted, in a high-pitched voice.

"I brought my cutting tools," Donatello considered.

Raphael chuckled at that, visualizing Mikey permanently stuck inside a piece of pipe that he had to wear like a skirt for the rest of his life. "Oh, that has my vote! We could just roll him home."

"No! Master Splinter will figure out that I left the Lair for sure!" Mikey astutely observed.

"Why, whatever do you mean?" Raphael asked sarcastically.

"He's sure to notice a piece of pipe stuck around me!" Michelangelo elaborated. Man, Raphael sure could be stupid sometimes, he thought to himself.

Raphael snapped his cheek and let his jaw hang open, not that anyone could see. "Waaahhhh?"

Don smirked. "That's not exactly what I meant. You see, that pipe that you're stuck in has an old connector at the very end. It's a slightly smaller diameter than the pipe itself, which is why you got stuck on it. All I need to do is cut the connector away and you'll be free."

"What are you waiting for? Just do it already!" Mikey urged.

"I'm trying to think of a way to do it without hurting you," Donatello elaborated.

"Hurting me?" Mikey squeaked.

"I'd be using a high-powered saw to cut close to your body while dangling from a rope," Don fretted. "If the saw jumps, it could hit you. Or, if the cut leaves a jagged piece, you could hurt yourself sliding out of there."

"I don't want a saw right next to me like that!" Mikey exclaimed.

"Yeah. I'm not too keen on the idea either," Don agreed. The rope had twisted around so that he had his back to his brothers, but he didn't bother trying to correct it. "But, I feel better about Plan C."

"What's that?" Mikey asked.

Don was excited about this one. "We use water pressure to force you out of there!"

"Water pressure?" Raph repeated doubtfully, from the other side of the pipe.

"Yes. The pipe is dripping some water, so it's obviously active. We can manipulate some valves and divert more water into it. Eventually, enough pressure will build up to pop Mikey loose. What do you say, Mikey, does that sound better?"

"Yes! Yes! Maybe I can even do a trick while I'm in the air! I think that I've got a super-duper quadruple somersault in me today!"

Donatello smiled. "I'll be hanging here to catch you, Mikey. Otherwise, you could hit the wall like a cannonball."

"Oh. Well, that doesn't sound quite so appealing," Michelangelo admitted.

Donatello told Raphael to get out of the pipe and meet him at the bottom of the collection chamber. He rinsed off the oil that he had previously applied as best he could, then sprayed an adhesive around Mikey, and the interior of the pipe. After that, he applied some sort of expanding foam.

"Aren't I even more stuck now?" Mikey wondered.

"Yes, but we need to build up water pressure behind you. We can't just have it spraying out around you, or this won't work. Now, we need to give that foam a little time to set and harden." Don hesitated, then put his hand on Mikey's shoulder. "The other thing is, Raph and I need to go tend to the valves."

"You're going to leave me alone in here?!" Mikey cried.

"Just for ten minutes!" Donatello promised. "Some of the valves haven't been touched in decades. They're rusted into place. It'll take both Raph and me to move them."

"I don't want to be alone!" Mikey shouted.

"I could call Leo," Don offered.

That shut Mikey up. Leo was sure to tattle. "I… guess I can handle ten minutes alone."

Donatello winked and pulled something else out of his bag of tricks. "I got a head start on my Christmas gifts this year. This was going to be yours, but it seems like you could use it now. It'll help keep your mind off things while Raphie and I are working." Don slipped a pair of headphones over Mikey's ears.

Don took a minute to explain how to use the homemade music player, then cued up a song for Mikey. Mikey watched Don lower himself back to the floor, then fidget with his tools as he disappeared into a tunnel. Upbeat lyrics were buzzing in Mikey's ears the whole time. He had to admit, the music did make him feel less alone.

If there was a problem

Yo, I'll solve it

Mikey was still tapping his feet to the catchy tune when he began to feel the water swirling around his ankles. They were doing it! There was something nerve-wracking about this, though, and it wasn't just the fear of loneliness. What if Mikey turned into a cannonball sooner than Don had predicted?! What if the foam plug that Don made gave out and water started shooting into his face at super high velocity and he drowned?! What if this water had flesh-eating bacteria in it?! Mikey put his hands up against the foam plugs, just to be safe. When the song ended, he hit repeat.

Blessedly, Don and Raph appeared within the ten-minute window that they had promised. Donatello must have given Raph his candy back because he was munching on it and looking amused as he took in the sight of Mikey sticking out of that pipe. Don, on the other hand, set straight to work on hoisting himself back into the air. Rather than hanging directly over Mikey like last time, he set his rope in the middle of the overhead pipe, then swung over to his brother.

Mikey caught Donatello and held on for dear life. He was vaguely aware that Don was looping a rope around him. At least, Don was trying to loop the rope around him. "Quit struggling, Mikey! I need to get this tied up, to be sure that you don't fall."

"I could fall?" Mikey shouted, hugging Don even harder.

"Not if you let me get this rope around you," Don pointed out. His relaxed demeanor calmed Mikey just enough that Don was able to tie his brother to him. Don then allowed Mikey to hold him close again. "Can you feel how high the water is?" Donatello asked.

"I think the pipe is full," Mikey announced. "The water is so cold."

Don rubbed Mikey's back. "Okay, well, it shouldn't be long now. When we get home, you can take a hot bath."

"Do you think that Leo has missed us yet?" Raphael asked from below.

Don looked down at him. "Probably not. He was in his room reading when I left. I put some music on in Mikey's room, and I left the mixing machine running in my lab. Hopefully, he won't get suspicious."

"I think that I'm feeling more pressure," Michelangelo said.

Don checked the now-hardened foam. It was beginning to bulge out. "That's good Mikey. We're almost there." Don pushed the foam in as much as he could. Michelangelo held him tighter.

Mikey began to feel as if he were vibrating, as the water fought to escape the pipe. He began to wonder if the family genius had any idea what he was doing. "Dooooonnnn," he cried.

Suddenly, Don and Mikey were swinging across the room, holding onto each other for dear life. Before Mikey's mind even registered that he was free, Don began releasing the line to lower them down. The two swung until they were over a dry landing area, then Donatello released the harness.

A soaking wet Mikey immediately began kissing the ground. Donatello set to work reclaiming his rope and packing his harness. When he was done, Raphael handed Don a piece of candy. "I think you earned this, bro."

Donatello gratefully took it. It was a chocolate-covered marshmallow, his favorite!

Mikey had been so terrified that he hadn't even realized that the same song was still playing on repeat. From his spot on the ground, he looked at Donnie, standing there, cool as ice, like nothing could've possibly gone wrong. That song would forever remind Mikey of Donatello.

If you've got a problem

Don will solve it