Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Hey, guys here's a new book coming out soon, the introduction will be coming out soon, but the story will not start until I finish The Lost Son.

So anyways, here's some sneak peek art for my new story, An Orange Amnesiac.

reference photo below

Chapter Text

POV Michaelangelo:

I followed after the team, being the last to enter the air vent, I closed the cover behind me catching up with the group. I began crawling through the narrow tunnels, following the group as they turned left and then right, traveling down the airways until we reached the needed exit. I jumped down from the vent placed in the ceiling, rolling into a crouched position a few feet away from Raph. I switched my gaze over to Leo as he signaled to Donnie and me, pointing towards the empty hallway, "You two. Search this floor. Inform me if anything goes wrong", I nodded once to Leo's orders, turning down the hallway as Donnie caught up and ran in front of me. I charged down the hallways, seeing cell after cell, finding no sign of the power cell, I checked each room for anything, coming short with nothing to find.

I continued to sprint down the halls, checking each room, only to find empty barren rooms and cells, "The control room is on the south side of this level, come on let's go", Donnie's voice fade into the background, I finished checking the last room, walking out of the room, and left the door crack barely open.

I scanned the area, but found no sign of Donnie, "Donnie?", I ran in the direction where his voice rang from previously, but he was gone, I stood in the middle of the hall alone, 'Did Donnie...leave me'. I quit searching each room, trying to find my teammate, but he was nowhere near me.

I turned left into the next hallway, quickly looking inside each room, I looked down the next hall, slowing down when something caught my eye, a door opened just barely, most of the doors would normally be closed shut. I began walking down the hall that seemed to stretch on forever, going on with no end. As I reached for the door grabbing ahold of the knob, I looked around the hallway, seeing no droid or bot in sight, and slid inside the room, closing the door behind me completely.

I stared at the hundreds of crystals that lined the walls, lighting the room in different shades of pink and purple, "Are these...power cells?". I walked toward a wall, reaching upwards near a small crystal, grasping it tightly, a flash of light glowed around me suddenly, I grabbed my head, and grew light-headed, leaning against the wall. I pulled out my nun-chucks, scanning the room for any intruders, but there was no one.

I rubbed my thumb over the crystal, looking down at the gem, but I froze and looked at my other hand, seeing the same thing, instead of three large green fingers, I had...human hands. I moved my fingers around, frustrated as I tried separating my fingers, flinching as I felt my pouch vibrate violently, I reached inside, and pulled out my T-phone, answering the call without checking who it was.

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Me: "Hello, who's this-"

Don: "MIKEY WHERE THE SHELL ARE YOU RIGHT NOW?!?!"

Me: "I'm where you left me, but Don I found-"

Don: "NO MIKEY, STOP!!! I'M UNDER ATTACK, GET OVER HERE, NOW!!!"

Me: "Wait D-"

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I looked at my phone, staring at the end-call screen, switching to the messages as Donnie sent his location, and looking at the text feeling guilt grow a knot inside my stomach. I shoved my phone inside my pouch and stared at the crystal, switching my gaze between the gem and my now-humanized hand, I pulled out an unused wrap from my bag, encasing the crystal tightly within the cloth, and looked back at my hand, however, this time seeing the hand I knew my whole life, green with three fingers, 'I guess I have to be physically touching it, for it to work', slowly turning around shoving the crystal inside my pouch.

I took a picture of the room, then raced out, quickly slamming the door, sprinting in the direction of Donnie's location, I looked down each hallway and slowed down trying to listen for anything, holding my breath, closing my eyes. My eyes shot open hearing guns shots not far away, I began racing towards the noise, I swiftly turned the corner and found Donnie alone struggling against the droids. I raced towards the kraang releasing the hidden blade, throwing the end of the nun chuck as it hooked around the neck of the kraang droid, pulling the chain in my direction, slicing the head clean off. I sprinted toward the group that surrounded my brother, "BOOYAKASHA!!!", flipping into the center of the crowd, charging toward the bots near me, and punching them down, pulling their weapons away from them. I grabbed the kraang that hid in the belly of the machine, forcing the creature out of its cavity, I swung the end of my nun chuck, wrapping the chain around the neck of the enemy, swinging the metal body around, and taking out multiple opponents.

Looking around the room, seeing all of the kraang were destroyed, lying on the floor sprawled across the hall, I turned around to find Donnie leaning against the wall, holding his arm, breathing heavily. I ran over the sea of machines, and slid next to him checking for any injuries, happy to find nothing.

"Donnie are you okay?", Don's head was pressed against the wall, and his breathing began to slow down changing into much deeper breaths. "Donnie?", he wasn't responding, trying to catch his breath, he opened his eyes slowly and switched his gaze down to me, he mumbled something under his breath, but it was hard to hear, "What Donnie?", his blank gaze quickly turned into a glare, growling under his breath, "Where were you...", I backed away from him as he fell off the wall, stalking toward me, "I-I was-".

"Where. Were. You. Michael", I stared at my brother as I felt fear grow inside me, I shrunk down as Donnie towered at his full height over me. "Well...you left while I w-was checking the rooms-"

"You should have been listening to me when I told you where we should have been", Donnie shoved his finger into my chest, "And now because of your lack of brain cells, it's my fault you were messing around. During a mission?", I looked down, my hands shaking as he shoved me to the ground, "N-no! I was just-"

"Guys! Come on, we have it! Mikey, what the heck are you doing? Get your butt off the ground!", Raph and Leo left us, running past the hallway, I stared back up at Donnie, only to meet a glare, he left me behind, running toward where Leo and Raph once were. I swiftly stood to my feet running after my brothers.

I turned the corner, looking for the exit or my brothers, but saw neither. I ran down the hallway, looking down each corridor, only to find the same result. I raced around the corner, and an elevator stood a hundred feet away from me, 'there's an exit I just need this', I looked at my pouch as I sped towards the lift, still finding no sign of my brothers, 'Did they actually leave me?'. I pressed the button firmly, waiting for the door to slide open.

The door slid open as I walked inside the empty elevator, pressing the button to the bottom level. I stood still in the silence that felt so loud for some reason, I pulled out my phone to check for any new notifications, but there was nothing, no calls from his brothers, no texts, just nothing.

I slid my phone back into my bag, grabbing the small wrapped crystal, 'I probably shouldn't just walk out with it in my hand, maybe if I', I slid the gem into one of my wraps, making sure it was snug. I looked over my body as it changed into a human one, and scanned over the clothes I wore, a sleeveless orange hoodie that hung loosely around my torso, faded blue shorts, and a pair of orange shoes. I pushed my mask above my eyes, holding back my hair, closely similar to how Casey wears his bandana.

The doors slid open wide, giving me a full view of the TCRI's lobby, I shoved my hands into the pockets of my hoodie, and casually walking out of the elevator, I looked around the large space, seeing no one in sight except for the lady that sat at the front desk. The lady looked up at me, her face full of confusion, "Hey kid, what are you doing in here?", I froze and turned to the lady, 'Okay you got this Mikey'.

"Well, I came to visit my dad during his lunch, but I think enter the wrong building...", the lady stared at me before comfortably relaxing into her chair, giving me her friendliest smile, "It's good hon, make sure you know where your dad works before entering random buildings, okay?".

"I will, thank you ma'am!", I turned toward the exit as a smile grew on my face that the lady couldn't see, I walked to the exit, pushing the doors open, leaving the buildings entirely. I continued checking if the lady was out of sight, and when I no longer saw her I sprinted towards the nearest building, turned the corner, and hid in the alley, removing the crystal from my wraps, wrapping it up inside the cloth, and placing it back inside my pouch. Watching as my body changed back into its mutant form.

I pressed my hands on my knees, I tried to catch my breath, but instead started laughing, as realization hit me, 'I fooled someone...', my excitement filled my body as I shook my hands repeatedly.

My excitement ended as fast as it began when I felt my phone start to vibrate, I pulled out the device, this time checking the name of the caller, it was Leo.

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Me: "Hey, what's up-"

Leo: "Are you still inside the building?!"

Me: "No, I'm outside, in the front of the building, look"

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I jumped up the fire escape from inside the alley, landed on top of the roof, and looked toward the top of the building in front of me waving my hand.

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Me: "See?"

Leo: "Wha!? How did you?!"

Me: "You guys left me behind, so I found a different exit"

Leo: "Where? And why are you wearing your mask like that?"

Me: *Fixes mask* "It doesn't matter, now come on"

Leo: "Wait hold on-"

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I hung up on Leo, shoving my phone back in my bag. Jumping from one roof to the next, scanning my surroundings for any familiar landmarks, and smiled seeing the green apartment that stood next to the entrance to the sewers. I turned and slowed down, changing my direction, running straight for the apartment. Shadows flew over heading in the same direction as me, I looked up to see my brothers, flying over me, but none of them looked down at me.

I made it to the manhole cover as Leo removed the lid, letting me and the others enter first.

I jumped down the ladder and landed on the wet concrete, not even looking back, I skipped ahead of the group, leaving them behind in the dark sewers. I pulled out my phone, and plugged in my headphones, blasting the first song I saw. I turned the last corner into the lair and jumped onto the couch.

After a few minutes, the rest of the group finally entered, Donnie entered last, quickly making a beeline for his lab. I jumped off the couch and ran towards Donnie, "Hey Donnie-"

"Not right now, Michael", I ran in front of Donnie trying to make him listen, "But Donnie I found something-", Donnie shoved past, ignoring me entirely, "You mean while you were messing around and left me alone!", I stepped back away from Donnie, backing up right into someone else, "What do you, he left you alone?", Mikey jumped away from the group as Leo stared down at me, "Well, while I was checking the rooms, Donnie said something, then left. I tried to find him, I swear but I could find him, instead found this-", I stopped as Leo held up a hand, signaling me to shut up.

"Mikey, you deliberately disobeyed my orders, you separated from the team not once, but twice!? You know I can't handle this. Go to your room"

"Wait, but-"

"Now", the tone sent a shiver down my spine, my face heating up as my eyes started to sting. I shoved past the group, running straight for my room, slamming the door behind me. I locked the door, no longer wanting to interact with any of my family, not even Sensei.

I ripped off my gear, not caring where they landed, I stood in the middle of the mess I call my room, tears falling down my cheeks, I gazed at the room as my eyes landed on my tossed bag that was thrown onto my bed, the crystal laying lazily next to the lid of the open pouch. I picked up the clothed crystal, slowly unwrapping it to receive the glowing gem. I stared at it as a foreign feeling of determination flowed through my body, 'If they don't care to know about this crystal, they won't know about it either', I walked over to my closet, hiding the gem out of sight, hiding it from anyone other than me.

Chapter Text

POV Mikey:

I slowly opened my eyes, staring through the darkness of my room, and stretched my arm toward my nightstand searching for my phone. I smacked my hand on each side of the nightstand and reached for the far side of the drawer finally finding the device. I turned my T-phone on but cringed at the sudden brightness, I turned the brightness down and checked the time, 05:49.

Tossing my phone at the bottom of the bed and sat up feeling the sleepiness slowly leave my body, rubbing the bags that hung underneath my baby blue eyes. I dragged my legs across the sheets, throwing them off the bed, and stood up, swaying back and forth towards the door. I reached for the handle, using my other hand to unlock the door, slowly swinging it open, and making my way over to the kitchen.

Upon entering the kitchen, I grimaced at the mess, dishes, and stains sprawled across the counters, radiating a foul odor, 'I guess they tried making dinner without me last night'. I opened a cupboard, retrieved a dishrag, and began wiping down the counters, I never liked cooking in a dirty kitchen, it was my space of creativity, a place where my creativity can be more open with no limits. I finished cleaning the filthy mess and hung the rag over my shoulders as I walked over and opened the freezer, smiling at the adorable sight, *mew*, Ice Cream Kitty greeted me, rubbing her cheek against my finger.

"Hey Ice Cream Kitty", I whispered, scratching the underside of her chin, listening to the soft purrs come from within her. I shut the freezer, opened the fridge, and grabbed the eggs and vegetables, using my foot to close the door behind me. I opened the cupboard and took out a large and small bowl as well as a cutting board, placing the items gently on the counter. I began cutting the bell peppers and tomatoes, tossing them inside each bowl, I looked over the diced vegetables inside the bowls, questioning if something was missing.

I went back to the fridge and grabbed the spinach, hot sauce, and jalapenos, bringing them over to the board, and diced the spinach into thin slices, adding them to the large bowl. Opening the pepper jar, tossing ten jalapeno slices into my bowl, 'Now that looks better'. I began to crack open the eggs, ten in the large bowl, and four inside the smaller one. I opened the drawer, and pulled out a small metal fork, placing the utensil on the countertop.

I made my way to the other side of the kitchen, walking toward the coffee machine, and picking up the container of coffee grounds. I popped open the lid and scooped the ground into the machine. "One scoop of coffee~, and two scoops of coffee" I screwed the lid back onto the container, sliding it back into its original spot. Pressing the buttons, and turning on the device as it started to brew the coffee, I walked back over to the bowls and grabbed the fork. I started to stab each yoke, starting off with the large bowl and whisking the eggs and vegetables to the perfect consistency, I pulled out the spices, adding salt and pepper and a small amount of dill and onion powder. Placing the bowl off to the side and began mixing my batch, adding spices similar to the last mixture.

I turned the dial, and started up the burner, placing a pan on the stove, leaving it over the heat, and warming the metal to the needed temperature. I pulled out the worn-down rice cooker, separating the built-in bowl, and scoop of cup of rice inside. I began cleaning the rice, washing it until the water was nearly clear, and placed the bowl back into the device, starting up the rice cooker.

I poured a third of the large batch into the pan, watched as the translucent mixture began to cook, and rolled the eggs, turning the once-liquid mixture into a nice omelet. I repeated this process two more times, making an omelet for each brother, and plating each one, setting the meals on the table. I walked back over to the fridge and grabbed the nearly empty jug, pouring juice into Leo and Raph's color-coordinated glass and placing a mug next to with brewing machine.

"G'morning", I turned around and watched as Leo sat down at the table, taking large gulps from his cups before he dug into his meal, "Good morning~", greeting as I began my own meal, using a pair of chopsticks. I poured a small amount of oil into the pan, moving it around, covering the entire surface. I poured my entire batch into the pan, and used the chopsticks, quickly stirring the eggs as they became a scrabbled texture. Tapping the pan, slowly flipping the eggs as they became more unified shape, forming my favorite dish, omurice.

*Ding* The noise of the rice cooker sounded, alerting me the rice was ready. Pulling out a plate, and scooping the rice onto the dish, I walked over to the stove and carefully plated the fried eggs. I placed my dish on the island, leaving my cup of water right next to the plate, "What did you make yourself, Mikey?", I looked up at Leo as I dumped some hot sauce onto the dish, as well as some soy sauce, barely covering the eggs, "Oh just some omurice with tomatoes, bell peppers, and jalapenos", I took a large bite out the freshly cut open eggs, feeling the warmth coat the inside of my mouth.

Spice has always been my thing, the heat and flavor always complement the dishes I made really well, however, the others like spice just way less than me. I took another large bite, this scoop with more rice this time, "Why do you want to try some?", I looked at Leo as he took another bite, "Nah, I saw how much hot sauce you put on it", I looked at my plate, and saw way less hot sauce than I normally used, I shrugged and continued eating my eggs.

"Morning", I acknowledged Donnie as he made himself a freshly brewed coffee, took a large sip of his drink, and sat at the worn table. I looked up to hear an additional chair move into place, Raph stared at his meal, switching his gaze over to my meal, "What are you eating?"

"He made himself omurice", Raph sent a glare toward Leo, stabbing his egg and shoving them into his mouth, "And he didn't make us any?"

"Raph, just eat dude", Raph continued to glare at Leo as I scoop the last bit of rice left on my plate, and ate it, quickly taking all the dirty dishes to the sink, scrubbing them clean of residue, laying them out to dry.

I left the kitchen, leaving the rest of the dishes for them, 'it's just a few dishes, they can wash it', I stepped into my room, flicked the switch, and turned on the light. I picked up my phone as it sat on the end,  swiping at the screen to see the time, 06:53. I swiped through my phone searching for my music app, and soon found it, pressing play on a random song.

~Engravings by Ethan Bortnick~

Tapping my fingers to each beat, drummed them through the air, and fell onto my bed, humming the lyrics along with the music. I reached toward the ground, grabbed my wraps and pads, and tossed them next to me. I began wrapping each one around the needed areas, one on each leg and five on each arm. Pulling up my knee and elbow pads over my limbs, setting them into place.

I paused the song and chucked my phone onto the mangled sheets, not caring to fix the bed, and turned around, picking my weapon up from the messy floor. I walked over to the dojo and looked over at the kitchen, seeing no sight of the others only dirty dishes piled in the sink. I sighed at the mess left over knowing I'll be the one cleaning them up. I stepped into the dojo, and walked over to the others, kneeling down next to Donnie, sitting on the farther left side. "Today we are starting off with meditation, let's begin", I quietly sighed, closed my eyes, and bowed my head, 'I hate meditating'

(Three Hours Later)

"Yame!", I fell to the ground, heaving large breaths, feeling the sweat drip down my forehead onto the carpeted floor. "That will end today's training, you're dismissed!", I watched Master Splinter turn around, walking towards his separate room. I slowly got up, leaning as I sat down trying to catch my breath, and closed my eyes taking deep breaths.

"Michaelangelo", I turned around, facing Master Splinter who towered over me as I continued my labored breathing, "You've been falling behind...You have grown lazy", I looked down at the ground rubbing the scales on my arm, too nervous to look up to my Sensei, "Look at me Michaelangelo", I looked up to him, and felt more embarrassed than ever, "I have high expectations for all of you, so do not disappoint me. Understand?", I nodded only for him to hit the ground with the bottom of his cane, "Hai, Sensei".

"Good, you are dismissed", I finally caught my breath and stood, walking toward the dojo's exit, and sat on the couch, watching the TV play out space heroes, 'Ughhh what should I do...draw?...no...hangout with Donnie?... I think he's still mad at me', I looked around the room thinking of a cure to help my boredom, 'Wait! I know'. I climbed over the couch and ran towards my room, shutting the door tight behind me, locking away the rest of the world, "Let's see..." I dug through my box of old used art supplies, searching for the two needed items, string, and some super glue. I placed the slick black string on my desk and continued digging for the glue, I smiled finding the item deep inside the box.

I began my project by gluing a piece of the string on the tip of the gem and wrapping the string down a small bit. I held the finished piece up to the light, it was messy but it liked the look, it was a necklace that hung below the collarbone, nesting in between the crevice of my shell and my scales. I slid the necklace into my pouch, tightened the bag, and walked over to my drawer, grabbing my homemade wallet and skateboard.

I ran to the entrance connected to the abandoned subway, and held my board in one arm, "And where do you think you're going?", rotating towards the voice, Leo stared at me, "Well...I'm bored...so I'm just gonna skate in the sewers...", Leo tightened his glared at me, 'please please', he turned toward the TV waving me off, "Just be back before the patrol", I smiled stepping backward closer and closer to the exit, "I will", fully twisting towards the exit, sprinting out with a skip in my step.

I jumped onto my skateboard, pushed myself forward, and built up speed, tossing on the new necklace, watching as a flash of pink light flew by me, I looked down at my hands, moving them around in the air, 'Five fingers...sweet', I sped past the tunnels, counting each one. In the distance I recognized the needed tunnel, I sped towards it and jumped off my board, kicking the back into my hand, and sliding the board into its holster. I froze hearing the board hit the ground instead of strapped in, 'Why isn't it staying on my shell-...oh right no shell, I'll fix that later'.

I grabbed ahold of the bar and climbed the rustic ladder, holding the skateboard underneath my arm. As I climbed up the ladder, reaching closer and closer to the manhole cover. I pushed the heavy steel lid and peeked out, I stared at the streets, full of lively people, opposite to the streets at night. I crawled out of the hole and slid the cover back on, 'Maybe I should leave my board...', switching my gaze between the crowded streets and the manhole below. After finally deciding, I used my nunchucks to lower my board, gently placed it on the floor next to the ladder, and closed the cover again. I stood to my feet and turned around, leaving the alley, feeling a spike of energy fill me as I walked towards the street.

'I can't cause attention...oooohhhh this is so cool', I walked down the street and stared at the sky, taking in the colors and textures of the sky. I rushed forward clumsily, feeling someone push me, "Keep walkin' brat".

"Oh sorry", I continued walking down the street, and avoided getting in people's way, 'Where should I go first...food! And I'm craving some pizza gyoza', I quickened my pace, walking towards my second favorite restaurant, sorry Murakami, but Antonio's Pizza will always be number one.

I ran down the street, running closer to Chinatown, and slid by people, scanning the buildings. I slow down and, stopped in front of Chinatown, looking over the buildings and reading each inscription. Scanning each one and stopped, eyeing the noodle shop, 'Bingo', I stepped into the street only to be pulled back, "Whoa kid, what are you doing"

"I'm just trying to get there", pointing at the noodle shop, "Kid, do you not have crosswalks from where you're from?", I looked up at the lady, as she placed her hands on her hip, "Crosswalks?", she stared at me with shock, then sighed with a gentle smile, "Come on kid", she held out her hand as she looked at me. I grabbed her hand and let her pull me along, tugging me to the striped path on the road, I hopped on each one, jumping over the black lines, and leaping onto the other side.

"See that was a crosswalk", I looked back at the striped path, keeping that knowledge in mind for next time, "And here we are hon", I smiled as I waved my hand, "Thank you, ma'am".

I pushed the door open and peeked inside the room, it was empty. "Don't just stand there, come on in", I turned toward the voice, happy to see Murakami, "Hey Murakami~san".

"Michaelangelo?", I pulled out a chair, and threw myself on top of the stool, "The one and only"

"What are you doing out during the day? Someone will see you", I chuckled at his concern, "I know but come here", his face showed worry as he stepped towards me, "Check this out, touch my hand". He stood in front of me and reached his hand out, touching my hand, and froze when he felt my hand, feeling skin instead of scales.

"May I touch your face?", I knew he would be confused, "Of course", he rose his other hand, grazing against my cheeks and hair, "But...How?"

"While on a mission with my brothers, I found this crystal, and when I physically touch it, I turn into a human", he'll pull back his hands and placed them on his chin, "Do your brothers know?", I looked down scaping my fingers along the wood counter, "I tried telling them, but they wouldn't listen, so I decided to keep it my own secret, well our secret now", I smiled and laughed, rubbing my hand against my arm, "Well you came here for a reason, right?".

"Oh yeah, I was wondering how much an order of your pizza gyoza would be", he began pulling out the ingredients as he began talking, "Hmm, do you even have money?"

"Yeah well, just a few dollars"

"How about this, clean some of my dishes, and you can have pizza gyoza for free", I smiled at his idea, I really didn't mind helping him, plus who can deny free food? "Yeah, I can do that", he smiled after hearing my agreement and walked toward the back showing me the sink, "There are a few dishes to do, so you should be done by the time I finished the gyoza", I looked over the dishes, and knew the task would be easy, "Okay sounds good!", I pulled out my phone and played some music, setting the device on the rack above.

(Thirty Minutes Later)

I turned off the faucet, and wiped the back of my hand over my forehead, cleaning the sweat off. I grabbed my phone, and checked the timer I set, wanting to see how long it took me to do all those dishes, 'thirty-two minutes, sick'. I paused my music and put the phone away, walking out the back of the restaurant, "I finished Murakami~san!".

"Perfect, I just finished as well", he placed an empty box on the counter and loaded the gyoza, gently placing the to-go box into a bag, and tying it up. "Thank you, I gotta go now", I picked up the bag, and ran out of the building, "See you later, young one!". The door shut behind me, and the cold air blew past me, I looked up, and stared at the blurs of colors, beginning to change into another stunning sunset.

I stopped and looked at the top of the building in front of me, 'Is that...Mondo?!', I peered at the reptilic figure, 'it is', I ran to the crosswalk, pressed the button and waited. When the signaled rung, I sprinted across the street, running straight for the empty alley, and jumping onto the fire escape. I climbed to the top, and leaped onto the roof, "Mondo!", I landed unevenly, and rolled onto my butt. Mondo twisted toward me, freezing in his place, "Do I know you? ", I aggressively nodded, smiling ear to ear, "It's me", I pulled off my necklace, sliding the jewelry into my pouch, and a flash glowed around us, turning me back into a mutant.

"Yo! How'd you do that, that's fucking sick, dude!", I sat down pulling my freshly made gyoza out, "I found this sick crystal that turn me human", mondo threw himself back and landed next to me. I ripped open the box, grabbed a piece, and threw it inside my mouth, loving the flavor melt in my mouth. I looked off to the side watching him put his mouth on some weird...tube? I tapped Mondo's shoulder, "Hey, ummm what's that", pointing at the weird tube, he looked at the item, "Oh it's a vape, why wanna try?", he reached his hand out holding the device.

"Can I?"

"Sure man", I took the vape and set my food aside, grabbing gyoza, and passing it over to Mondo, "So how does it work", he grabbed the food and tossed it lazily into his mouth, "Oh that's good. Well, it's pretty easy, just place the edge of your mouth on it, and inhale, that's it", I looked down at the device, rolling it over my palm, and brought it up to my mouth.

Taking in a deep breath, inhaling the icy air, and coughed aggressively, "Yeah it'll do that to ya in the beginning", he reached over me and grabbed another gyoza. "Dude *cough* my head feels funky...heh heh heh". I took another breath, letting the airflow into my lungs out of my snout, "Hey if you give me three more of those dumplings, you can have the vape, I have more, just make sure your brothers don't know about it".

"Sure man, just don't tell my brothers about the crystal", I rose my hand, squinching it into a fist, he looked down at my hand and laughed, "Deal", fist-bumping my hand as I placed the box in between us. I flinched feeling my phone vibrate, and pulled out my phone, "Hey, Leo's calling, don't make any noise, he doesn't know I'm out", mondo winked as I answered the phone.

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Me: "Hey Leo, what's up"

Leo: "Mikey, where are you?"

Me: "I'm out skating remember"

Leo: "For SIX consecutive hours"

Me: "Would you believe me if I said yes..."

Leo: "No."

Me: "Well, I am-"

Leo: "Get home Mikey!"

Me: "Wait why?!"

Leo: "Because I said so, Mikey"

Me: "But patrol's not for another two hours-"

Leo: "Michaelangelo"

Me: "..."

Leo: "Come home now"

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The call ended instantly before I could continue, I sat next to Mondo quietly and put my phone away, tossing gyoza into my mouth. "Hey man, you good", I sighed, cradling my head in my arms, "Yeah...I just wished I had more freedom. I'm the youngest and because of that my brothers think they can tell me whatever to do", I looked inside the to-go box, counting six gyoza left, and ate one as I stood up stretching my back, "Hey thanks for the vape and hanging out with me, you can have the rest". I slid the vape inside my pouch, "Thanks man, here wait up", I looked back at Mondo as he stood up and walked next to me, "Let me see your phone", confused I handed my phone to him as he typed something into my phone and pulled out his, "Now if you need to talk any time, just call or text me", I took my phone back and smiled, "I will, thanks again".

Chapter Text

POV Mikey:

'It hurts, why does everything hurt', I groaned, slipping into consciousness. I looked around the room, but closed my eyes, gripping my head, 'I'm fine...but it hurts'. I threw off my sheets, the room grew too hot to keep them on, everything was too hot, even the bed was too hot. I climbed off the bed, clumsily landing on the ground, and hummed in delight as I felt the icy floor cool my scales, but the pain was still there.

My body shook, curling up in a tight ball, I reached on top of my nightstand searching for my phone, 'Where...', the room began to turn, spinning faster and faster, nausea growing in my gut, forming a large knot in my stomach. My tongue hung from my mouth as I felt nausea reach my throat, I continued reaching up to the nightstand, pulling what I thought was my phone but instead yanked down the nightstand, everything on top crashing down onto the floor. My eyes grew heavy, and the pain didn't change, falling back into a shallow sleep.

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*BANG* *BANG*

"Mikey, wake up, training started ten minutes ago!", I grabbed my head as the pain grew stronger, I curled up into a tighter ball, "I'm...fine guys...", I voice but my tone was too quiet for anyone to hear. My breath became shallow, I couldn't bare the pain, laying on the no longer cool floor, my shallow breathing turned into hyperventilating, 'I need to...get up'. I crawled toward a different area, searching for the next cool spot, "MIKEY!" *BANG* *BANG* "GET UP!", I whined pathetically, and covered the side of my head, wishing the pain away, tears flowed down my cheeks, collecting into a puddle on the floor.

"Did you get him up, Raph", I barely opened my eyes as I heard the others speaking outside my room, uncovering my ears, but the pain was still there, "No, I banged on his door, but he didn't answer", I spoke, trying to explain that I was fine, only for it to come out softer than a whisper, "Why don't you just open the door", I slowly looked up hearing Donnie's voice, "Because it's locked, Donnie".

"Why is his door always locked *sigh*, just knock down the door"

"Gladly", I crawled away from the door, covering my ears, not wanting the pain to get worse. *BANG* *BANG* *CRASH*

"Mikey get your butt-... Mikey?", I couldn't stand it any longer the pain was becoming too unbearable, feeling the nausea grow again, my body shook aggressively as I lay on the ground. "Mikey, are you okay?" nodding my head, and squeezing my eyes shut, my breathing became more uneven, making me lightheaded. I flinched as I felt something touch my forehead, curling into a tighter ball, "Oh my god, he's burning up!". I cringed as my body was picked up and rushed out of my room, "No...don't touch...I'm fine", I moved in the holder's grasp until I was comfortable, even with the pain, "I said...I'm fine".

"Mikey, you're not fine", my eyes tightened as I felt Leo wipe away the tears under my eyes, "Put me down...I just need some pain meds, then I'll be all good for training", I shivered as my body was placed onto of a cool metal table, relaxing into the freezing surface, "Bros...I'm fine...".

"Donnie what's wrong with him", I rolled onto my side, attempting to sit up, 'I need to get ready', my body was pushed back down onto the table, and I whined feeling my body flow with pain. "It looks like he has a fever", I tried getting up again, feeling my body pressed back onto the table, "Let me go...I'm fine". I groaned curling back into a tight ball as I felt nausea grow in my stomach, "Please...bathroom", my body became limp, feeling someone pick me up, my body shook with each step. I cringed as I felt nausea reach the back of my throat, I barely opened my eyes as Leo placed me on the toilet, closing the door behind him, "I'll be right here-", his voice was cut off as I began vomiting into the toilet, the acid burned my throat as stomach contents came out. 

The door swung open and slammed into the wall, I knew it was Leo as he stared at my shaking form, puking the food I ate from the night before. He rubbed my shell as I continued to puke, my chin hanging on the rim of the toilet lid, I pushed Leo's hand away only for him to continue the motion, I felt embarrassed as my brother watched me rest my head on the edge of the toilet, emptying my stomach of all the food inside.

"Leo is he still going to the bathroom", I turned my face away from the door, feeling the eyes of the others on me, "Yeah, but he just started puking", food no longer came out of my mouth, instead came the acid, burning my throat raw. "Well, I got the acetaminophen, but if he's puking I should wait until he's done", my body shook as the vomiting stopped, instead replaced by dry heaving, nothing came out.

I raised my head up and looked toward Donnie, reaching my hand to him, "Give...please", Donnie looked at me before turning around, "Bring him back to the lab", I pushed Leo as he tried to pick me up, not wanting to go back to the lab, I got off the toilet and laid on the ground. "I'm fine Leo...just leave me here", I sighed curling up and laying on the icy floor, no longer dry heaving, Leo's warm hands reached under me trying to pick me up, but I pushed him away, my body wanted one thing, cold. "Mikey, I need to take you back to the lab", I shook my head, knowing I could deal with this myself, "Mikey, stop being childish", I slid my body closer to the wooden bathtub, hugging the cool surface, "You know what, fine! Stay in this bathroom for all I care". Leo slammed the door, leaving the lights on, 'Finally pure silence', I crawled toward the cabinets and found the spare medicine. I dug through multiple containers and grabbed the pain medication, and shakily stood to my feet in front of the sink, turned on the faucet slowly, bent down as I took small sips of water before I threw the medication into my mouth, and swallowed the pills.

I grabbed the counter, using it as a railing as I walked toward the bathtub, and sat on the toilet. I picked up the plug and pressed it into the drain, clogging it so no water could escape. I turned the faucet, only filling the wooden tub with cool water, I leaned over the tub and held myself up. I watched the water fill the bathtub, just cold water, no bubbles, no oils, just water.

I turned the water off when it reached a certain level and the room fell silent except for the sounds of water splashing against the walls. I stepped into the tub and sat down, my body relaxing in the coolness of the water, I closed my eyes, feeling the pain and heat gradually leave my body, and my eyes grew heavy, feeling myself slip into a deep sleep.

---------------------------

I opened my eyes slowly and looked around the room, licking the inside of my mouth, ridding the dryness. I sat up feeling the water fall down my shell back into the water, and closed my eyes feeling no pain, just soreness. I laid back down in the tub, curled up to the edge of the bowl, the door opened quietly and shut just as calmly, and footsteps walked closer and closer to the tub. I flinched when I felt someone gently touch my forehead, "How are you doing feeling, Michelangelo", I opened my eyes and looked up to Sensei, I smiled, feeling Master Splinter drag his nails against my head, "I'm fine Master Splinter, sorry for missing training, I promise I didn't mean to", I looked down not wanting to be lectured, "It is fine my son, Leo explained what happened".

I groaned longly and sat up, massaging my fingers against the back of my neck, "Michaelangelo, stay and rest, you need it"

"But, I'm fine sensei. I'm just a little sore", I pulled myself up onto the edge of the tub, wiping the water off of my scales, using the towel that sat folded on top of the toilet. Sensei sighed as I pulled out the plug, and watched the water empty out into the drain, "If you say so, my son", I watched as he stood up, turning toward the door, "But remember, if you need anything, your family's here for you", he walked out, closing the door behind him.

I hung the damp towel over the edge of the tub, stretched my arms, and listened to the quiet pops and crackles echo in the silent bathroom, I left the bathroom, walking straight for my room. I looked around the dim lair and saw no one in sight, Leo wasn't watching TV, Raph wasn't punching the bean bag, and Sensei was already back in the dojo. I pushed open my door and cringed once I walked inside, greeted with the foul scent of sweat and rotten morning breath, I picked up my phone and earbuds and left my room.

'It's three in the afternoon, maybe I can hang out with Mondo after I make lunch', I stepped inside the kitchen and opened the fridge looking over the contents, 'What should I make...pizza'. I pulled out the ingredients from the cool fridge and placed them on the counter, pulling out the dough from the night before, I smiled at the dough, bigger than before as it grew overnight. I flatten out the dough on top of the cookie sheet and looked over it trying to decide what new pizza I should try, 'I know they're gonna want something normal...oh wait I know', I pulled out my phone and google the ingredients, and smiled knowing we had all the ingredients. I turned towards the oven, pressed a few buttons, preheated the oven to 425 degrees, and walked back to the ingredients.

I coated the dough with a layer of sauce, using the wooden spoon to cover the dough evenly, with no areas too saucy, and no areas with not enough sauce. I layered the sauce with cheese, not a lot but enough, and placed the basil leaves over the uncooked pizza, then cut the tomatoes, diced them into thin slices, and placed them on top. I began slicing the mozzarella, 'Now thinking about it, why do we have so much cheese...probably because of sensei', I laughed at my own thought, and threw the slices on top of the pizza, "Perfect".

I slid the pizza into the hot oven, and shut the door as I set the timer, waiting patiently for creation to form, 'Okay it's three thirty, I should be done by four'. I looked over at the sink and groaned, piles of dishes from the past two days. Picking up the sponge, and scrubbing the grime and residue off the plate, washing the loose clumps down the drain. I cleaned each dish, scrubbed each one until I saw no stains, and placed the cleaned plates onto the homemade drying wrack. I rinsed the last dish and put it away with the rest, grabbed a rag, and dried the edge and inside of the sink, ridding the surfaces of any water.

*Beep* *Beep* I skipped toward the oven and flung the door open, using the dirty towel, pulling out the fresh pie, and placing it on the counter. The pizza flooded the room with a delicious smell, filling the once-empty room with the aroma of a pizzeria. I pulled out a pizza cutter, sliced the pie into ten pieces, bagged four of the slices, and left them aside on the counter.

I packed my stuff, and packed the pizza into my pouch, as I pulled out my phone. I looked around the liar, but seeing no one around, I ran towards the exit and scrolled through my contacts, finding Mondo's number at the very bottom of the contacts.

---------------------------

I climbed up the fire escape, jumped onto the rooftop, and rolled onto my knee, I stood to my feet looking over the rooves of New York, looking for any sign of Mondo. I pulled out my coal-colored vape and took a breath, feeling the cool air flow through my lungs, traveling through my throat, through my sinuses out of my snout. "Looks like you're getting used to it", Mondo climbed onto the roof and plopped down next to me, "How's lemon-lime flavor". I pulled out my lukewarm pizzas, and handed two of the slices over to Mondo, "I like it, fruity flavors have always been my thing", I took a bite of my pizza and smiled, happy that the pizza turned out to be great, "Dude, where you buy this".

"Oh I made it", I stared at Mondo as I finished off the first slice, picking up the next one, "YOU MADE THESE!!!", I snorted at his observation, wiping a fake tear away from my eye, "Yeah man, why you like 'em?"

"Like them bro, they're delicious", I slowed down my breathing, and my laugh slowed down to a quiet chuckle, "Thanks, I never considered my food, restaurant-worthy", I mocked his observation, and chuckled, "Why you little-"

"Ahhh!!!", I scurried away only for Mondo to jump on me, tackling me to the ground, I tried pushing him back, getting him off of me, "Apologize", I smiled up at Mondo, laughed in a dark tone, my smile grew darker, "Never". Mondo lifted his hands, raising them above his head, "Your loss, Angelo", it all happened so fast, Mondo reached up and tickled my underarms and neck, I laughed uncontrollably, trying to push Mondo's arms away. "Uncle! Hahaha! Uncle!".

"Apologize!", I laughed shaking my head, laughing harder than ever, "Apologize!", I couldn't handle the tickle fest any longer, I was becoming dizzy from laughing too hard, "Fine! I apologize! Now free me!". He finally got off me as I rolled over and caught my breath, taking deep breaths of the smogged air, I fell onto my plastron. Mondo fell down next to me, taking in a deep breath of smoke, and blew smoky rings into the air.

"So why did you want to hang out, Angelo", he looked down at me, watching as I got up, sitting next to him, and giving him six inches of space, pulling out my own vape. "Can I not hang out with my buddy", I blew the smoke out in small puffs, trying to recreate the rings, but the rings never formed, "Well, I mean yeah, but when I saw you seemed...tired?", inhaled the smoke, taking in a deep breath, and trying the trick again only to fail a second time, "Well I mean I was sick this morning-"

"Like how sick", I turned towards him as he finished off his last slice, "Like fever, vomiting and in a lot of pain sick heh heh", I grew nervous when Mondo's face grew serious, stepping closer and closer and looked at me, "And you wanted to hang out when you woke up that sick, THIS MORNING?!"

"Yeeaaaahhh???", I stepped back with my hands up, keeping my distance from my angered friend, "Okay, that's it", he stepped forward and grabbed my arm, pulling me towards the fire escape, slowly making our way back towards the ground, "Wait! Where are we going?!"

"We're going back to your place, cause if you get sick again, I'm gonna kill you", he pulled me towards the all too familiar manhole and pulled aside the lid, "Come on, we can hang out at your place", I sighed as I jumped in first, "Fine, dad", I laughed hearing Mondo climbed down after me.

I walked down the tunnels, taking my time going home, Mondo caught up with me, and took a deep breath of his vape, "Hey, my room is a mess, so we can hang out in the living room", in the corner of my eye, Mondo looked at me as he blew out the smoke into the sewage air, "I don't mind a messy room man".

"No like it smells bad from this morning, like sweat", I took a breath of the smoke, and blew it out of my snout, "Want me to help you clean?", I looked at Mondo, watching him do some smoke tricks, "Sure man, but you may never come out alive~"

"If I die in there, you're coming with me, bro", I chuckled and mocked his manner, "I'll make sure to send in a rescue team", I slid my vape into my pouch, tying it shut, "Now come on, bro"

---------------------------

I peeked into the entrance, looking around the room, Mondo plopped his head on top of me, 'Maybe they're still doing their own thing?', I stepped inside, creeping towards the living room, making a beeline for my room, and noticed my door open, left wide open from this morning.

"Whoa, sheesh your room really does stank", I closed the door behind him, flicking on the light, "Well then let's get started", I started picking up the old trash, tossing them into my trashcan. I looked up at the ceiling and grimaced at the stains left from the pizza, "Bro...how", I opened a pizza box finding a few slices left, "I don't even know anymore man".

I dug through a pile of junk, and found a candle with more than two inches of wax left, "Yo why do you this underwear...are these yours", I walked back around the bed with the candle in hand, "Oh no, those aren't mine", I pulled out a lighter from a desk and lit the candle, "Bro what the heck...I'm throwing these away", I turned towards Mondo, "You better not". We stared at each other, and neither broke eye contact until I groaned and looked back at the candle and reading the label, "Fine man, throw it away", I stopped cleaning off my desk and zoned out, staring straight at the desk, "Hey Mondo...", the room fell silent, Mondo's humming no longer filled the air, "If I suddenly disappeared and ran away...", I turned towards Mondo, who paused sweeping to listen to me, "You wouldn't tell my family...right?".

Chapter Text

POV Mikey:

I stared at Mondo, desperately waiting for his answer, "What...?", he stared at me, his eyes opened, wider than ever, "If I suddenly disappeared and ran away, you wouldn't tell my family, right!?". I grabbed his hands, looking deep into his eyes, searching for my answer, the answer I wanted to hear, his eyes grew slim, staring at each eye, "Of course...but why-"

*CRASH*

"MICHAELANGELO!", I flinched and spun on my feet, facing the door, Leonardo stood tall in the doorway. He looked between the two of us and groaned, pinching the bridge of his snout, "Mondo, why are you here", I looked back at Mondo, fear filling my gut, twisting into a nasty knot, "Oh um, Angelo wanted to hang out with someone-".

"Well Mikey here was terribly sick this morning, so it's best you leave", I looked at the ground, guilty Mondo was scolded because of me, and watched Mondo leave the room, squeezing in the space left between the doorframe and Leo "Sure, see you later, Angelo", I turned around and laid on my made bed, clean of wrappers and trash, facing away from my brother as he glared at my shell. "So do you want to tell me where you really were, Mikey", I pulled the sheets over my shoulders, pressing my face deepening into the pillow, "Like Mondo said we were hanging out", fear grew large as his shadow, covered my wall, hearing his footstep closer and closer to the bed, "That doesn't answer the question...Where were you two", I knew the exact tone and expression my brother had all too well, one that shown on all their faces when I made a minor mistake or any mistake at all...anger. "The sewers...".

The silence that filled the room rang loudly, filling my ears with painful ringing to no end, "Patrols in an hour. Be ready", my body relaxed hearing the sound of his footsteps growing softer, "But first...Donnie", I stiffened hearing another pair of feet walk into the room, their shadows loomed over my curl body, "Okay, Mikey sit up". I didn't want to anger them anymore, so I sat up, looking no one in the eyes who stood in the room, fidgeting with the hangnails that were sticking unevenly out from the nailbeds, "I'm not sick", my words fell on deaf ears as Donnie started the check-up.

-------------------------

Donnie brought in his medical equipment and began to look over my health, checking my temperature, and the inside of my mouth, looking for any rawness from the vomiting, but nothing was wrong, my temperature was normal, and only my throat had a mild rawness. "Told you I wasn't sick", I pulled the sheet over my head, and laid back down, hiding my face deep inside the plushy pillow, "We know, you repeated that multiple times this morning, and of course none of us believed you because of the state you were in...Do you know what got you sick". I never looked at Donnie when I answered, "No...", I really didn't know what got me sick, my brothers and I are never sick, and now suddenly I woke up in tons of pain with a fever, and vomiting, it made no sense, but I had to say something. "Maybe the pepperoni, jelly bean, mushroom, and anchovies pizza from last night...".

"Maybe..", Donnie walked away from my bed and began closing the door, "Well be ready for patrol", I acknowledged Donnie and raised my hand above the sheets, giving him a thumbs up as he closed the door behind him. I took out my phone and scrolled through the contacts, opening Mondo Gecko's and my text conversation.

-------------------------

Me: "Hey Mondo, I'm sorry about Leo"

Mondo Gecko: "No man it's fine, but are you okay, Leo looked pissed😥"

Me: "Oh no it's all good, he just asked where I went"

Mondo Gecko: "What did you say"

Me: "Sewers of course, where else?"

Mondo Gecko: "..."

Mondo Gecko: "Hey about earlier, that question?"

Me: "Yeah, I can explain later :)"

Mondo Gecko: "Why not now?"

Me: "I can just explain it later"

Mondo Gecko: "Do you just want to explain in a call instead"

Me: "No, I just rather explain in person"

Mondo Gecko: "Hey are you safe?"

-------------------------

I stared at the text Mondo sent, 'Am I safe...', I broke away from my thoughts hearing the ding of a new text, and sent one back, noticing I didn't respond for three minutes.

-------------------------

Mondo Gecko: "Angie?"

Me: "Sorry zone out :P"

Me: "And yeah dude why wouldn't I be"

Mondo Gecko: "..."

Me: "Well I have patrol in fifteen minutes"

Me: "TTYL BYYYEEEE"

Mondo Gecko: "Yeah talk to you later man bye"

-------------------------

I groaned heavily and chucked my phone to the end of the bed, 'Fricking overly protective Donnie', I sat at the end of my bed holding my head in the palms of my hands, covered in calloused sores.

Ever since I found out about the tracker that Donnie attached to the phones, I did some research and found some weird attachments Donnie added along with the tractors. He hardwired the T-phone to send all text conversations straight to a file on his computer, and the only way to delete their conversations is to enter a password, and I checked it's not his usual passcode, 1<3April.

Text conversations aren't the only thing sent to his computer, the phone calls are recorded and sent there as well. So far that I've seen, the phones don't record their surroundings, and if they did Donnie should know about the crystal by now, but he never asked. So private conversations can't be done on the phone or in the lair with the exception of my room.

-------------------------

I stepped out of my room, shut the door tight, and walked toward the living area, sitting clumsily on the couch. I pulled out my phone, plugged my earbuds in, and played the last song in my playlist, a song Casey recommended, I left my music app to go to my favorite game, Battle Cats. Cats have always been my favorite animal, and when I found a game about fighting and cats, sign me up.

~Imma Kill U by Insane Clown Posse~

The song started instantly, I bopped my head to the head but froze as the words came in, 'What kind of music'. I sat still looking at my phone, questioning whether I should skip or continue listening, I decided to listen. 'Oh sweet I can get a new cat', I sent out my cats and watched them kill off the snakes and dogs laughing as the battle was near its end, making me the winner. Finished off the battle, and took the rewards, but froze, something wasn't right, someone was...watching me? I turned around leaning my hand against the edge of the couch and jumped, Donnie stood right behind me, reaching his hand toward me, I pulled out an earbud and stared at my brother, "Donnie...what are you doing".

"Oh nothing, I just wanted to let you know we're about to leave", I stared at Donnie, listening for anything abnormal, then smiled going back to my game, "Okay Donnie". I placed my earbuds back, but paused my music, "Donnie and Mikey, ready to go", I started another battle, sending out my strongest cat, "Yeah, Mikey's listening to music".

"We can see that, Donnie", I picked up my feet and crossed my legs, leaning closer to the screen, "Should Mikey really be coming on this patrol", the room fell silent, I froze feeling the stares of my brothers on my shell, "He said he was fine earlier".

"But we don't even know why he got sick", a groan followed Donnie's words, "He probably ate something, I mean have you seen what he eats, now come on we need to go". Listening to the steps grow louder, walking closer to the couch, and tapping my shoulder. I pulled out my headphones, and turned back to the team, "Is it time to go?"

"Yeah come on, Mikey", I slid my phone into my pocket and tightened my weapon into the holster, jumping over the couch, and standing next to the gang, "Alright guys let's go".

-------------------------

I jumped onto the next roof, looked over the area, and spotted a foot soldier, creeping around an alley into a warehouse, "Guys...", I whispered, trying to get their attention, but no one was responding. I turned around to my brothers, "Guys?", my tone slightly louder than a whisper was hushed. Leo placed his hand over my mouth and glared at me, "Mikey, you need to be quiet. We're on patrol", Leo loudly whispered, his tone almost as loud as speaking normally. I pushed his hand off of my mouth, trying to get my point across, "But Leo, I saw-".

"Mikey, hush and if you saw something, why don't you go check it out", I stepped away from Leo and stood near the edge, switching my gaze between Leo and the warehouse. "Fine", I jumped off the building onto the fire escape and landed on the ground, I moved to the shadows, watching the area around the warehouse. I sprinted toward the side of the building and peeked through a small window, inside were foot soldiers, moving weapons and mutagen containers around the building, 'Why do the foot clan have mutagen'.

I needed a way to get inside the building, looking around I noticed a ladder that lead to the top of the building. I climbed the ladder as quietly and quickly as possible, I reached the top and opened the skylight window, looking around the building. 'Foot soldiers, Fishface and Dogpound, I can do this', I snuck inside the warehouse landing right on the edge of the building, I peeked around the side of the crate and listened to the enemy.

"Soldiers put all the weapons on the south side of the warehouse, and mutagen on the north side", I stepped back as Fishface walked toward Dogpound, "Chris, have you heard anything about the new member, Master Shredder's bringing in?"

"Yeah, turns out it's his daughter", I pulled out my nunchucks, glaring at the enemy ahead, but froze as the chains of my nunchucks hit the floor. I picked up my chains and watched as shadows filled my vision, "Hey it's one of those turtles, where's the rest of your team", I turned around to the group, foot soldiers surrounding me cornering me into the wall where I hid. I glared at the Dogpound and Fishface, tightening my grip on my weapon, "Well orange, speak-". I charged toward Dogpound, elbowed him in the gut, and kicked his shin, knocking him off of his feet.

I clenched my teeth when I felt Fishface cut my arm, knicking the edge of my scales. I pivoted on my heel and sprinted toward Fishface, he sliced his blade to the side, barely missing me as I flipped over the knife, dodging each time he tried to attack me, "Why you little, just stay still", I chuckle as he kept missing each time. "Come on Fishface, I'm right here-".

I flew across the warehouse straight into the wall, knocking the wind out of me, I opened my eyes, my vision going in and out of darkness becoming blurred, I stood up using my hand, pushing myself up and collapsing back onto my shell, feeling dizzy as the room began to spin. Nausea grew as the room spun faster, gripping my stomach and head, freezing as I pulled my hand away to see blood, dripping down my finger.

I pulled out my phone and pressed the SOS button directly on the back of the T-phone, contacting my brothers. I stood up with my hand holding my shoulder, leaning against the metallic wall, I picked up my weapon and glared at Dogpound. Hooking the blade in the crack of the crate that lay next to me, and sprinted towards the two, swinging my weapon as I gained momentum and chucked the crate, knocking out Fishface.

'Where are the guys', running next to Ficeface's unconscious body, tying a rope around his arms and legs, and placing him into the corner. Foot soldiers ran toward me swiping their blades at me, trying to take me down, I punched the soldiers and flinched as the soldiers cut my scales. I kicked the soldier's gut, punching each one in the head, and slowed down holding my head, feeling more lightheaded than before. I looked around the warehouse, searching for any more soldiers, only to find them all on the ground unconscious.

I blinked slowly, feeling the blood drip into my eye, watching as everything changed to red. I turned toward Dogpound and watched as he froze staring at my eye that was full of blood, pouring over in the form of a tear. I swung my nunchucks, creeping closer to the mutant, then stopped a few feet away from him. "What are you using all this mutagen for", he chuckled staring at my bloody form, hunched over in front of him, "Why would I tell you", I stepped closer to Dogpound, "Because I single-handily took down all of your soldiers and Fishface"

"Ha! So what! There's nothing you can do that will make me spill", I groaned and made a genuine smile, "That's fine". Opening my eyes as I charged him and punched him in the face, swinging my nunchucks, hitting him in the back on the head, swinging my other nunchucks, and banging his knees. I watched as he fell to his knees, massaging his legs. I walked up to his kneeling form and swung my nunchuck, hitting him in the back of the head, and knocking him unconscious.

I picked up a rope and tied Dogpound up, dragging his body next to Fishface, and throwing him on top of the pile. I looked at the ground feeling drowsy, as the room spun around me, blood dripping into my other eye. I fell to the ground, leaned against the wall, and breathed heavily, I touched my head, cringing at the pain and blood that covered my head. I pulled out my phone, and sent my location to the others, 'Hopefully...they find..me', closing my eyes as I fell into darkness.

-------------------------

My body lay stiff on a cool surface, my body stuck paralyzed, and hearing was the only sense that worked, "Donnie, when do you think he's going to wake up", footsteps walked back and forth near me, heavy breathing filled my ears, "From what I asset, Mikey has a concoction, I can't tell how bad the hit is until he wakes up-"

"How long Donnie?", I listened as Donnie scoffed, walked away from me, and sat on his rolling chair, "He should be waking up either between a few minutes or even hours from now", I tried pressing myself deeper into the table, wanting to disappear. Leo groaned as his footsteps walk closer to me and then stopped, most likely standing over, "I just-", he tapped the table, "He needs to train harder. He may have taken down the enemy, but he ended up super injured. I should have sent someone with him, he's not strong enough to fight alone", the room fell silent when Leo said those words, breathing heavily as he leaned over the table, "Then why is he still part of the team. I heard Sensei say that he was falling behind after training". My chest grew tight, hearing the sounds of the others humming in agreement, Leo sighed, continuing to tap the table, "Just tell us when he wakes up, Donnie", a pair of footsteps faded away as a metal door slid shut.

My chest began to hurt, a tight knot growing deep within my shell, 'I'm...weak?', my heart rate grew loud, pounding inside my ears, and my breathing became shallow and quick. My eyes shot open, darting across the room still only seeing red, blood-stained tears falling from my eyes. I quickly shot up, switching my gaze around the room, I dragged my feet off the table, trying to stand up, 'I need to leave. I need to leave-', my thoughts were cut off as Donnie pushed me back onto the table, holding me against the table tightly, "Mikey it's okay your safe", I pushed against Donnie, "I'm fine please, let me go-"

"Mikey!", stopped struggling and looked up to Donnie, pushing me back onto the table, and laying the blanket carefully over my body. "Leo, he's up!", my breathing hitched as Donnie called for Leo, I pulled the blanket over my head, trying to calm myself, "What's up", my breathing slow down only for my body to begin shaking, "He's awake, but he woke up in distress", I curled my body into a tighter ball, facing away from the group behind me, "Did you see about his concoction".

"No not yet, all that's left is memory and intellectual tests", I heard laughing behind me recognizing it as Raph's laugh, "Heh you know he's going to fail them all right", my eyes began to water as I heard the venom seep from Raph's mouth, "He's an idiot", he continued chuckling as he walked away, "Well it's best to see, the concoction could be severe".

"And what, kill the few brain cells he has, he doesn't have any, Donnie", I growled, hearing the insults grow, listening to the others laugh as if it was a joke. I slowly sat up, the blanket falling to my lap, "I'm not doing this anymore...", I picked up and feet and jumped onto the ground as Donnie ran up to me. "Mikey, what are you doing-", I glared at Donnie as he grabbed my wrist, tearing my arm away from him, "Forget the test...I'm too stupid to do them anyways". I stared at the ground and stopped, Leo stood in front of me, crossing his arms, "Go back and sit down", I stared down, not responding to Leo's order, "Mikey, go back and sit-"

"No", I looked up to Leo, "Michaelangelo-", glaring at him as I stepped forward, "No!"

"No! I'm not doing this anymore! The insults! You treat me like trash compared to the other two! No matter how good I do on a mission, you always see the bad side, I literally found out something important about the foot clan that could change everything!...but...it's probably stupid heh". I looked back down at the ground, feeling the tears drip down my face, falling onto the ground, "You guys never cared about me, today's patrol really proved it true!", I sighed and wiped the tears from my eyes, "I heard what you guys said earlier, how I'm too weak to fight alone and too stupid to do anything, and if you think so then you're probably right". I smiled my eyes full of sadness as I walked past Leo and Raph, opening the heavy metallic door, "I'm done guys...I quit...", my voice just loud enough for them to hear as I shut the door, heading off to bed.

Chapter Text

POV Mikey:

I stepped toward my door, walking faster and faster, my pace became a sprint as I swung my door open and locked it behind me. My breath blew out of my mouth as I took deep heavy breaths, the moment finally setting on my tired mind, "I did....I finally did it", my voice broke into a quiet chuckle turning to excited laughing. The feeling of happiness flowed through my body, sending the sensation from my head to the tips of my fingers, down to the ends of my toes, and the feeling of goosebumps rising on my scales. I shook my fists as the happiness started overflowing, tears of joy spilling down my cheeks as I jumped on the bed, squeezing the life out of my pillow.

I flipped over on my shell, kicked my feet in the air, and flopped my limps on my bed, my laughing calming down to a quiet chuckle. I looked around my room, gazing at the horror comic posters that lined my walls, and the surfboard with a bite mark that hung over my TV, smiling as I felt the excitement start growing again, filling me with adrenaline, 'It's now or never'.

I crawled off my bed, clumsily landed on the floor, and reached underneath my bed, pulling out trash bags and boxes I found in the sewers, stained with the dirty water that flowed through the tunnels. I opened a trash bag, and hung the loop around my arm, climbing on top of my bed. I grabbed the corner of the posters, ripping each one off the wall, tossing it into the bag, and took down my cardboard figure of Chris Bradford, bending it to fit nicely into the trash bag. Building the cardboard box back into its original form, I picked up my TV and VHS player, unplugged each machine from the outlet, and gently dropped them inside the box.

I pulled my sheets and blanket off the bed, and folded them carelessly, fitting them tightly inside, just between the wall of the box and the TV. I stood on my bed, and grabbed each figure, tossing them inside the box, closing it shut as I jumped off the bed. Picking up the bed and pulled out the carpet that sat underneath the bed, tightly rolling it up, placing it on the far side of the bed near the wall. I picked up the box from the floor and placed it on the end of the bed, tossing the bag full of posters and trash on top of the box. I looked around the room spotting two more things to clean up, my jukebox and surfboard, I pulled down my board and laid down next to the rolled-up carpet, twisting my body, and reached for the jukebox, placing it on top of the board.

I looked around the room, satisfied with how it turned out, and walked over to my desk, pulling out a new piece of lined paper. I looked over the sheet, thinking over the words I wanted to write, and smiled writing out the words into the paper, using an orange marker to write each word.

Hey guy,

I'm sorry...I'm sorry I couldn't be a better or stronger brother, I wish I was better to prove that I'm good enough for you guys, just enough for you guys to be proud of me, but I could never do that. So this is my official notice to the family...

I can't do this anymore, this pressure, this lifestyle, everything about this place isn't for me. Getting lectured when I act like a kid, well news flash guys, I'm a kid, I should be living a normal life, where I can be a kid, act like a kid, I should be messing around and having fun, not fighting for my life, battling against tons of enemies.

I'm going to be leaving for a while, looking for a normal life that can fit me, so please don't go looking for me, don't search for me, just forget about me. I need to be stronger not for you guys, not for others, not even for the entire world, but for myself. However, what I need most is space, anyway from the family.

So...I'm temporarily going to disown the family, disowned this life. I mean this is what you guys wanted right, to stop being part of the team right?

I know I was never useful, but in an attempt to be useful once in my life, I will tell you what information I found during today's mission.

Dogpound and Fishface were talking about a new member joining the foot clan, when Shredder comes back from Japan, the new member is his daughter. I never got the name, but I hope that this news is important.

Well, I hope the team becomes, stronger and more powerful without me, keep New York safe, and farewell.

MichaelangeloI read over the letter and sighed the paper, feeling the fresh warm tears run down my face, staining the paper with wet spots. I opened the desk drawer, slipped the sheet inside the cleaned-out drawer, and gently placed my phone next to it. I tore off my gear, starting off with my wraps moving onto my kneepads, gently placing them beside the note. I untied my mask, looked over the tangerine orange cloth, and laid it over the paper under the paragraph full of words. I stared at my gear as memories flowed through my head, good and bad memories, but mostly bad ones, I looked away and closed the drawer. I looked over the desk and grabbed my stuff, picking the only items I will be taking with me, my wallet, crystal, vape, and ice cooler, hanging my weapon through the loop of my pouch.

I walked to the door and looked around, smiling as I shut the door, locking it with my extra key, and sliding it underneath the door. I walked quickly towards the exit, but slowed down, listening to the conversation that continued on inside the lab, "You don't think he's serious, right", I gently placed my hand on the pressing my ear into the metal, "Pff- Of course not, this is probably another one of his jokes". I stepped back glaring at the door, and sprinted to the kitchen carefully opening the freezer door, "You're coming with me", *meowww*, I smiled and grabbed the ice packs in the fridge, throwing them inside the cooler. "We're leaving, and going on an adventure, how does that sound?", Ice Cream Kitty mew in excitement, licking the side of my face, "Aww I love you too, now come on".

I picked her bowl up, placing her gently inside the cooler, shutting it tight, and picking it up, racing toward the exit. I ran down the tunnels, counting each one, passing the numerous tunnels, until I found the needed tunnel, running into the dark tunnel, I placed the cooler on the ground, opening it to see a sleepy kitty. "I know sorry, but I need you to see this, so you can get used to it", I pulled out my crystal, and placed the necklace on, blinding Kitty with a flash of pink light, she looked around, tilting her head as she stared at me. "It's me, Kitty, I need a disguise to hide for a while, okay?", she stared and nodded her head, licking my hand in response, "Good girl, now go to sleep", I licked her head, knowing full well she loved them and closed the lid.

I climbed the ladder, using only one of my arms hooking the other onto the ladder, I reached up to the lid, pushing the cover off to the side. I stepped out of the manhole, and slid the cover back on, covering my head as rain pour down from the sky, pulling my hood over my head. I stayed in the alley, huddling far in the concrete corner dry from any rain as I sat underneath the edge of the roof. Placed Ice Cream Kitty next to me and pulled out my weapon, sliding it inside the hood pocket, 'I wish my hoodie was sleeveless'.

Stretching my hand out, moving my palm back and forth as I watched the water drip down my arm, traveling down to my elbow. I pulled my hand back, lowering it down to my face and licking the water off of my fingers, 'This water tastes weird', shaking my hand ridding the water from my arm. Pulled my knees to my chest as I wrapped my arms around my legs, and looked up at the sky, listening to the gentle smacks as the water hit the ground in front of me. "I've never stayed outside when it rained before, Ice Cream Kitty", closed my eyes, and smiled as the scent of the fresh rain filled my nose, "It's really pretty".  I leaned my head against the wall, listening and taking a deep breath of the air as I opened my eyes, staring at the greyish-blue sky.

The rain started lighting up, turning into a light sprinkle, I picked up the cooler and started walking down the alley, turning down the sidewalk. I didn't know where to go, so I let my feet lead the way, traveling where they wanted to go and looking up at the midnight sky. The colors of the sky, mixtures of the grey smoky air of New York blending with the dark blue spread across, painting the sky with soft highlights of white stars shining through the smog sprawled out throughout the air. I looked back at the street growing like lightheaded, looking at my surroundings around me I stared at an alley and sat down by the trash container, gently placing the cooler next to me. I leaned my head into my hand, pulled my vape out of my pouch, and placed it onto my lip, taking a deep breath of the citrusy air.

Tilting my head up as I looked at the sky, letting the smoke flow out of my mouth, and took another deep breath, holding it in as I continued to stare at the sky. I slid the vape back inside my pouch, blowing the smoke quietly out my nose into the air. As my eyes grew heavy, tired from missions and sickness, I lay on my side, and held tightly onto the cooler, pulling Ice Cream Kitty closer to my side, "Night Kitty", and fell asleep.

---------------------------------

POV Donnie:

I slowly opened my eyes, looking over the condition of the room, until my eyes landed on the table that sat in the middle of the lab, blankets thrown on the floor, that grew colder with the laboratory air. "God damn it", my throat grumbled as I stood up, and walked over to the table, picking up and folding each blanket. I brought them over to my supplies closet and put them inside with the rest of the survival supplies, closing the door with a quiet thump.

I dragged my feet across the floor, the pads of my feet never leaving the ground, my body slouched over as I walked over to my desk, and fell into my chair. I looked over my gear and groaned, staring at the loose wraps and kneepads that hung out of place. I redid my wraps and tied each one skin tight, leaving enough room to bend my joints, and pulling up each knee and elbow pad back into place. I leaned forward and stood up, walking straight for the large metallic door.

I slammed my door open, and stepped towards the kitchen, feeling a shiver run down my spine when the cold air hit my scales. I stepped into the kitchen as my anger grew, staring at the coffee machine filled with nothing but air, "What's your problem?". I turned toward the two, pulling out a pop tart from the old wooden cabinet, "Mikey's my problem, he left the blankets on the ground and didn't make my coffee".

"Well, he didn't make breakfast either", I grabbed the container, and dumped three scoops of coffee grounds, closing the lid. Pressing the needed buttons, listening to the machine start the brewing process, and flipping around, jumping onto the counter. I chewed down on my pop tart, feeling the crumbs fall onto my lap, staring at the bright screen of my phone, swiping through the notes for future experiments, and deciding what to do today.

"Uhhh guys...", I looked up from my phone, and stared at Leo over the top of my glasses, eating the last piece of my pastry, "Where's Mikey's weird cat?", I looked at him confused, shrugging as I looked back at my phone, opening the tracker app and looking at Mikey's location, "Well he's here", displaying my screen to them, showing Mikey's location, "Why don't you ask him".

"Nah, he probably has her in his room", I shrugged as he shut the door, dropping three ice cubes into his juice, "Probably a good idea to let him rest, since he hit his head". I sighed, listening to the coffee machine sound, signaling the end of the brew cycles. I jumped off the counter and walked over to the machine, pouring myself a fresh cup of brewed coffee, taking a long slip, and feeling the warm run into my stomach. I scrolled through my phone, '6:53 great, guess I can't work on the kraang tech after training'.

I downed the rest of my coffee, and slammed my mug on the countertop, making my way out of the kitchen. 'I hate training', I groaned and rubbed my eye bags, walking slowly over to the dojo, my back hunched over.

Stepping into the dojo, and looking around noticing our Sensei, kneeling in front of the altar, clasping his hands together, with his eyes most likely closed shut. "You're here early Donatello", walked closer and sat down on my respective mat, looking in Master Splinter's direction, "Hai Sensei, I had to make my coffee this morning and had no time to work on some projects", I finished listening as the other two stepped inside, sitting down perfectly at seven o'clock.

"Alright, let's start with Meditation, then we'll move on to Katas", Sensei turned around, and paused as he looked over each one of us, his eyes stopping on the lonely orange mat. "Where is Michaelangelo...still sick?".

I looked over Mikey's spot, remembering last night, "During patrol last night, Mikey fought multiple enemies alone and ended up with a concoction-".

"And why Donatello was Michaelangelo, fighting multiple enemies alone", my voice broke as my mind raced, thinking of the answer to his question, "Because..."

"Because I sent him Sensei", Leo's voice came to my rescue, informing Master Splinter of the reasoning, "And why is that Leonardo?", I switched my gaze between the two voices, keeping most of my gaze on Leo. "As you said yesterday, Mikey has been falling behind in training, and all three of us have noticed him messing around during missions and patrols, so when he told me he saw someone looking suspicious, I told him to check it out, using this opportunity for him to focus, and become stronger on his own". Splinter stood up and towered over Leo, glaring, "Leonardo...", his tone grew deep as the authority in his voice grew stronger, "Do you remember why I choose you as leader..."

"Because I was the strongest one...", I glared at Leo as I heard the pride in him grow, "No!", I chuckled as the smug smile left his face. "Because I entrusted you to be a strong leader, not only in power but in other ways, one of them, to be strong enough to protect and keep your family safe....however instead you threw your own brother into danger...", I watched as Leo lower his head, looking away from everyone's gaze. "My sons look at me", I turned my gaze over to Sensei and lifted my head, staring at Master Splinter, "I am disappointed in all of you, especially you Leonardo...I thought I taught you better than this". I looked down, feeling guilt flow through my body, my face growing warm with the sting that touched my eyes as I held in the dam that contained my tears.

"It's clear all of you need to think over my words...training is canceled for the day", he walked away from us, strolling straight for the dojo exit, "I am going to check on Michaelangelo and see how he's doing, you are dismissed", he finished as he stepped out leaving us in the guilt that filled our bodies.

I was the first to stand up and leave the dojo, my head hung down with my slouch shoulders as I dragged my feet, making my way to the lab. I grabbed the door and turned my gaze over to our rooms, watching as Sensei knocked his hand on the door and turned the handle, 'it must be locked, Sensei's not going inside'. I continued to watch for serval minutes waiting for Mikey's door to open, but it never did, Sensei walked away from the door walking down each step until his gaze met mine.

He stood in front of me, gently placing a hand on my shoulder, "Mikey didn't answer, I need you to go check on him, I don't know how his condition is", I nodded my head, and began walking over to Mikey's room. I stood in front of the door as the guilt grew in my stomach, forming an uncomfortable knot inside me, I knocked on the door, pressing my ear into the glass, but no noise was made. I knocked again a little longer this time, peering through the blurred glass of his door, terror filling my stomach and mind, fearing the worse, "Mikey, are you there?". I knocked harder, almost shaking the glass, "Look, Mikey, I'm sorry about last night, but we can forget it ever happened can you open the door, I need to check your head...", a silence only responded back.

"If you don't respond I'm gonna open the door", silence only responded back, I turned toward my lab and ran inside digging through my deep junk drawer, 'Come on where is it...". I stuck out my tongue as I search for the extra key for the bedrooms, I dug and dug through the junk and smiled, as I held up the room key, sprinting out of my lab.

I ran past Leo and Raph, running straight for Mikey's room, fiddling with the key until I put it in, and listened as the door clicked, unlocking the door. I pushed open the door as a new smell hit my face, something I never smelt in the lair before. I stared into the dark abyss, flicking on the lights as I froze staring at the neatly packed room with all Mikey's belongings placed on top of his barren bed, but no Mikey. "Mikey...", I pulled out my phone, feeling the dam finally break, tears falling down my cheeks, "Donnie, what are you-".

"Shut up!", I went straight for Mikey's contact and slammed the call button, pressing it into the side of my face.

*RRRIIINNNGGG* *RRRIIINNNGGG* *RRRIIINNNGGG*

I turned my gaze down to the desk that sat next to us, and listened to an unknown device continue ringing. I watched as Leo stepped forward and stood in front of the desk, I walked next to him, watching as he slowly opened the drawer. My lower lip trembled when I saw what was inside the drawer, Mikey's mask, his gear, his phone, and a letter. Leo picked up the letter and stepped back, his eyes looking over the words written in bright orange marker, each time his eyes went lower the wider they grew until he lifted his eyes off the letter, switching his gaze between the both of us.

"What have we done..."

Chapter Text

~Ten Months Later~

POV Mikey:

'Heh...I can't believe it's been ten months since I left my family, and you may be thinking I've been regretting my decisions all those months, but I haven't, I don't regret my decision, I've had more freedom living on the streets than I did in my old home. Out on the streets, I can walk around on the sidewalk during the day, I can go into stores using the money I begged for on the streets, but most importantly relax without the need to wake up early in the morning and make food for my old needy brothers, who complained over everything I did. 

About nine months ago, I explained to Mondo, but...he just stared at me, claiming the way they treating me was of care, that they were protecting me...that I was being a brat for how I acted. But I believe the way I acted was understandable, they didn't come to 'protect' me until I was unconscious and bleeding out, each one of them looked for a mistake, to put me down and lecture me...siblings shouldn't do that...no one should do that.

...I thought Mondo would agree that what they did was wrong, that I acted perfectly normal, but no instead he called and saw me as a spoiled brat... his eyes full of nothing but anger. He admitted that he'll never tell the others where I was, to which I'm glad, but I decided to not only leave my family, but leave that life entirely, except for training, once I become stronger enough, I'll think about going back, but if I'm never strong enough...useful enough than I'll never go back...thinking about it now, I don't think I want to go back ever again.

After three months, I noticed the crystal was messing with my memory, parts of my memory were disappearing and some were becoming stronger. The weaker memories are about my old family, the crystal has removed everything about them: their names, faces, personalities, talents, ages, gender, and even what type of mutant they are. I don't even remember where my old home was, and for some strange reason, the only ones I remember, are my family's friends and allies. As for my strong memories, my photographic memory has really improved , and...I don't know if it's a sick joke, but the memories of my siblings' insults, comments, and actions become stronger, remembering them in vivid details, even though the siblings did them are blurred in my memories. All my memories of my family are gone, and honestly, I'm glad, leaving on the streets is way better than the memories that go through my mind once in a while.

But even though I'm homeless, nobody looks at me terrified, this crystal has made my life so much better. However, recently I found out that the crystal was the reason for the sickness and pain I had, but I have grown...used to it? Sorry there's a word for it, but I've gotten used to the pain to the point it's just a headache and nausea. Thankfully as I discovered, the symptoms sometimes disappear if I put the crystal. However on a rare occasion like today, I laid in my alley, huddled deep into the corner, hugging the cooler that held Ice Cream Kitty's sleeping body'

---------------------------------

I hugged the cold cooler and pressed my skin deeper into the cool plastic, my body barely relaxing under the windy night air that passed over my hot skin. 'Hurts...really hurts' I flipped over to my side, gripping my side as nausea reached my throat, my body shaking uncontrollably as my limited food, poured out my throat onto the concrete. My breathing grew uneven as I closed my eyes, tears pouring over my skin onto the floor, curling into a tighter ball, my breathing no longer coming out of my nose, breathing harshly through my mouth.

I opened my eyes, and my vision blurred over as I stared at the entrance of the alley, a light filled the concrete hallway, blinding my eyes. I covered my ears as the sounds of old brakes screeching to a stop filled the alley, ringing loudly in my ears, I whined and closed my eyes, wrapping my entire body around the cooler.

I flinched and gasped, my body convulsing as something touch my forehead, freezing to the touch. "Ssh Ssh Ssh Ssh, it's okay hon", a gentle voice spoke quietly above as she stroke her cool hand across my cheek, the cool skin felt nice and comforting as I leaned into the touch, humming in bliss. "Let's get you somewhere safe", I cringed in pain as she picked me up, and opened my eyes to see the cooler sitting by the wall abandoned, "Wait...", my tone was quiet but loud enough for the lady to hear it, "What's wrong?", I pointed into the dark alley, "I...can't leave her...she's...in the cooler...".

"Alright hon", she gently placed me down on a plush surface and walked back into the alley, picking up the blue cooler. "Here you go, now try and get some rest", her hand stroked against my cheek as my eyes grew heavy, and fell deeper into a heavy sleep.

---------------------------------

I groaned and rubbed the back of my neck, scratching my shell as I sat up in the bed. I looked around the room and sighed, laying back down in the soft fluffy bed, '...Wait a second'. I sat up quickly looking around the room I was in, my breathing grew uneven as I looked around me, confusion and fear filled my body, 'Where am I-, Where's my crystal?!'. I looked around the room and touch my forehead, flinching as I pulled off the wet cloth that hung on my forehead.

"Oh no no no no no, it's okay, your safe", jumped as an alarmed voice spoke up, I froze, backing into the wall, staring at the lady that sat beside the warm bed. "Who-who are you, and where am I?...", she sighed as she stood up, walking over to a plate that sat on the wooden table. "I'll explain, but first here, eat", she carefully placed the plate on my lap, sitting back down on the small stool she brought from the side. I stared down at the plate, feeling drool pour down my chin, "I can...eat this?", she nodded her head. I smiled and picked up the fork, taking a big bite of the rice on my plate, moaning as the fresh hot food touch my mouth, warming my core, 'When was the last time I ate fresh food'. I stopped and stared at the weird vegetables that sat next to the rice, poking it curiously with my fork. "Ma'am...what's this?"

"Oh it's kimchi if you don't like it-", I took a small bite of the kimchi, curious of the questionable food, and smiled as the spice hit my tongue, filling my mouth full of flavor, and began shoving the rest of the food into my mouth. "Well I'm glad you like it", she laughed, handing me a cup of water, "And for your questions, you may not remember me but I was the lady that help you across the street, except you were...human, which reminds me, that crystal-", I switched my gaze to her as I continued to chew down on the lettuce, "-I put it inside your bag. And where are you? I brought you to my apartment, I found you last night in the alleyway seizing with a very high fever, and knew that if I left you there, you would get hurt".

She took the plate as I looked down at my hands, when a question formed in my head, "How-", she turned her gaze toward me as she stood up, "How are you not scared of me". She turned around and pressed her hand against my cheek, and softly smiled, "You're not the first half-human half-turtle creature I've rescued off the street", soft chirping sounded from a far room, "And it looks like you get to meet them", she quietly shut the door, leaving me in the silence of the new room.

I looked around the room, and turned my gaze down to the soft sheets, rubbing my fingers along the blanket, "She's...not scared...of me?-". I turned towards the door as she opened the door, closing it behind her, "I've been taking care of these little sweethearts for almost a year now, this grumpy one-", signaling toward the green turtle with yellow markings over her eyes, "Is Jennika, and this little one-", signaling to the white turtle with similar markings, however these where pink, "Is Lita, so you're not the first I've taken care of". I leaned closer to the lady, looking at the small turtles that lay half awake in her hands, lifting my hand toward the small ones.

"Would you like to hold them?", I lifted my gaze and stared at her, fidgeting with the sheets that covered my legs. "Can I?", she nodded as she gently sat the small turtles on my lap, laying them on top warm blanket they were just in. I rubbed my finger over Lita's shell, amazement filled my body as she leaned into the touch, chirping sweetly, rubbing her cheek into my palm.

A warm touch bumped against my other hand, and grumpy chirps sounded out loud, I looked at my other hand to see Jennika smashing her forehead and looked up at me, glaring at me with a grumpy pout. "Oh did you want attention, too?", I rubbed my thumb against her chin, gently grazing my nails over her shell, turning her grumpy chirps into happy ones as she leaned into my hand. "Wow, Jenny likes you, it took her a couple of weeks to get used to me", I smiled as they leaned against my shell, Lita falling back asleep and Jennika played with my fingers, moving each one back and forth separately.

"Now-", I looked up to the lady and relaxed when she softly smiled down at me, "Would you like to tell me why a kid your age is going on the street alone at night. You know this city isn't safe at night, right?", I looked down nodding as I rubbed my nails over Lita's shell, listening to her soft churrs. "I...ran away from home ten months ago", I flinched, feeling her hand rest on my shoulder, "My siblings, treated me like I was a burden, always lecturing me about the one mistake I made". I looked away from her as I felt a sting under my eyes, and tears began to form, "even if I did everything correctly *hic*when I asked them to come to rescue me, they picked me up only to lecture me on what I did wrong. Always insulting me about my intelligence and strength".

I rubbed my eyes as a few tears fell down my cheek and looked down to see Jennika chirping loudly, reaching her hands up for me. I picked her up and held her close to my face as she rubbed her cheek against my snout, "It's okay, Jenny. I'm fine", I leaned my forehead forward and pressed it gently against hers. I brought her down to my chest, and held her softly, scratching soft circles into her shell.

"I couldn't take it anymore so I left everything, that life, that family, it's just me and-", I looked around the room and relaxed, seeing my cooler in the far corner. "-Ice Cream Kitty, she's my pet cat who's made of ice cream, she was a cat before she drank so testing batch of my sibling's mutagen, and turned into what she is today", I looked back down as Jennika who stared up at me, resting her chin against my shell, drool pooling down her face. "Heh, you probably think I'm a spoiled brat, huh? That I'm being sensitive and overreacting", Jennika rubbed her face against my chest as a tear formed under my eye.

"No", I flicked my gaze up to the lady as she smiled softly, "Can-", she froze, looking away before meeting my gaze, "Can I hug you?", nodded my head, and gently lowered Jennika down onto my lap as the lady gave me a hug. I pressed my face into her shoulder, relaxing into the scratching she pressed into my shell, "Family is supposed to support each other, protect each other, and maybe a little bit of teasing, but they should never insult each other, bring them down and search for anything to lecture them for, that isn't what a family is. So no, you're not a brat, you reacted appropriately".

She pulled me away and placed a hand on my cheeks, "Now, like you said you have nowhere to sleep, correct?", I looked down and nodded, smiling as Jennika continued to play with my fingers. "How do you feel about living with me and my daughters...", I looked at her shocked switching my gaze between her and the two on my lap, chuckling as Jennika looked up, leaning her head against my stomach. "Can I?".

"Of course, however, you can't stay here for free"

"I-I don't have much money-"

"Oh no hon, what I mean is, with that crystal, you can turn human, right?", I stared at her, "You-you want my crystal?", she laughed shaking her head before continuing, "No, with that crystal, how do you feel about going to school". I stared and smiled, excitement filling my body, nodding quickly, "Perfect, school starts in three weeks, so today I'll apply you for school-, wait how old are you?".

"Oh, I turned fourteen last September", she had a sad expression on her face before she softly smiled, "Perfect, then you'll be a first year at the high school. Then after I apply you for school we'll go shopping for some school supplies and school clothes, what do you think?". I nodded my head, my smile grew ear to ear, I looked down and laughed, watching Jennika smile, wagging her tail back and forth, "Wonderful, now...I'm sorry hon, what is your name?". I continued to play with Jennika, chuckling as she tap her sister's shell, waking up her twin sister, "Michaelangelo, but you can call me Mikey".

"Michaelangelo, what a unique name. Well, Mikey, I'm going to train at a dojo I work at, can you watch these two while I'm gone", I nodded and chuckled separating the two as Lita pushed down, tapping her hand against Jennika's face. "Anything for my little baby sisters~", leaning into the two as I blew raspberries into their belly, listening to their high-pitched laughing.

"I'll be gone for a few hours, you can watch TV in the living room if you want, there's food in the fridge if the two get hungry, and there is leftover rice and kimchi if you're still hungry. If you have any problem, I'll write my number on the fridge, and the phone is on the wall. Have fun, everyone". I looked up and waved her off as she closed the door, and looked down, giving the two a sneaky smile, "Now, let's go have some fun, small beans".

---------------------------------

(Three Hours Later)

"Wahhhhhhh!", I rubbed the little one's backs and placed them next to me, kneeling in front of them as terror filled my body, "What's wrong, hon. You want food?". Jennika's tail started wagging and looked up at me, her crying calming down to quiet sniffles, letting me know my answer was right, "Okay, I'll be back". I stood up and ran to the silver fridge, opening it as I search through all the food, finding the baby food on the shelf on the door. I looked through the flavors and decided to choose the fruit-based puree, opening each drawer until I found a baby spoon.

I slowly sat down on the blue blanket patterned with small birds that the two sat on, hushing them to quiet sniffles, "It's okay, girls look". I opened the cold jar with a quiet pop, and picked up the spoon, scooping a small amount holding the spoon in front of Lita. "Say Ahhhh~", she looked at the spoon and sniffled as she opened her mouth, biting down on the spoon. "Good girl, now Honey bee, say ahhh~", I scooped the puree, and gently shoved it into Jennika's mouth, "Good girl~".

I laughed watching as Lita hung her mouth, letting the food drip out of her mouth. "Hahaha, no sweet pea, like this", I scooped the paste and took a bite, "See like that", my mouth barely full, swallowing down the puree. "Now, your turn", I scooped another spoon full and fed her, scooping the extra back into her mouth, smiling as she swallowed down the paste, "Good job!".

I continued to feed them, going back and forth, giving each a turn to eat, I scraped the last from the bottom of the small jar into Jennika's mouth. "All done, good job you two", I chuckled as Lita yawned, rubbing under her eyes, while Jennika smiled tiredly, reaching toward me. "Aww, come here", I picked up both of them, cradling them in my arms as I tapped their shells, and closed my eyes, listening to the TV play Bluey softly and the sounds of tiny burps come from the two tired turtles.

I walked over to the couch, and gently sat down, leaning my back into the cushion as the footrest popped out, resting the twins against my chest, rubbing gentle circles into their shells. The twins nestled into my chest and chirped quietly, I looked at the TV, Bluey playing out softly.

I looked toward the entrance as the sound of keys unlocked the door with a quick turn of the knob. The wooden door opened and the lady walked inside, gently shutting the door behind her, "Oh, were the twins watching their shows", I nodded, continuing to rub circles into the twins' shells. "How were they, I hope they behaved well", she walked over and rubbed her thumb over the sleeping turtles' heads, chuckling as they nestled deeper into each other's warm as well as mine, and their churring grew louder. She stepped back and walked toward the kitchen, "Mikey!-", I looked in the direction of the kitchen as she popped her head out from behind the wall, "-thanks for cleaning the dishes, are you hungry?". I looked down at the two that slept peacefully, "If it's not too much to ask", my tone barely louder than a whisper, not wanting to wake the sleeping children. "Do you want more kimchi?", I nodded my head as I responded, "Yes please".

I looked back at the Kitchen as the lady walked over, gently placing the plate on the side table, "Here, I'll take these little munchkins to bed, while you get your food". I nodded and past the twins to her, watching her carry them off to a separate room. I looked down at the steaming rice in the shape of a triangle with a piece of seaweed wrapped around the bottom. I picked up the rice, and took a large bite, sighing when a foreign flavor touch my tongue, and saw meat inside the rice. "How's the onigiri", I swallowed down the rest of the rice, licking my lips free of sauce, "It's delicious, thank you, ma'am". I picked up my fork and shoveled the kimchi into my mouth, when something crossed my mind, "Excuse me?", she sat down on the couch changing the channel to something else, "Oh are you still hungry? Do you want more?"

"No, I'm good, but I have a question", she paused the TV and turned toward me as I placed the dirty plate on the side table next to me, "So...um, I told you my name, but I never got yours". A look popped on her face, "Oh I'm sorry, I told you who I was without telling you my name-", she noticed my plate and grabbed it, walking towards the kitchen.

"My name is Tang Shen, but you can call me whatever you like, hon", her body turned to me as she spoke those gently caring words, leaving with the dirty dish to the kitchen.

Chapter Text

~Two Weeks Later~

POV Mikey:

I lay in my bed, softly breathing out of my snout, making a quiet snore as drool poured out of my mouth. Soft knocks tapped on the door and slowly woke me up, I stretched my arms, listening to the soft pops and crackles sound out. The door creaked open as my new mother peeked into the room with a warm smile, and walked over, sitting at the end of my bed, laying her hand on my foot as she gently squeezed it, gaining my attention. "Mikey~, it's time to get", I looked down at her and smiled, pressing my cheeks deeper into the warm pillow, "Five...more *yawn* minutes", pulling the sheets back over my head, "Oh come on honey, look who came to greet your morning". I pulled down my blanket and sat up, rubbing the bags that hung under my eyes that became lighter with each passing day, I yawn deeply as I opened my eyes, staring at the small turtles that reached their arms out.

I smiled as Jennika turned around pointing at me as she looked up at our mother, blowing wet raspberries up at her, "Mmmm-". My eyes widened as Jennika began babbling, "Ma...Mama!", I sat frozen and stared at the green turtle who continued to point at me. "Yes I'm Mama", tenderness filled mom's voice as she gently placed the twins on the blanket. "Yes sweetheart, I'm mama, this-", tapping my shoulders as the twins turned to me, their tails wagging quickly, "-Is brother, come Jenny, bro-ther". Jennika smiled and blew sloppy raspberries, drool pooling out of her mouth, "Baba!", I turned my gaze toward Lita as she crawled toward me, laughing as she fell over. "Bababababa!", I quickly look over at Jenny as she repeated the word.

My grin grew huge, growing ear to ear as I picked the two, pulling them close to my face, laughing as they chirped, aggressively rubbing their snouts into my cheeks, "Hahaha, yes yes, I'm Baba!".

My laugh slowly down to a soft chuckle as I tickle the twins listening to their high-pitched giggling. I looked up from the twins and noticed Mom quietly laughing, her smile was small but still visible, "I can't believe it took them that long". Shock covered my face, switching my gaze between the twins and moms, my mouth hung open, "Those were their first words?!", my mom laughed harder hearing my loud question, shaking her head as she held her stomach, "Hahaha No, but they did go quiet when they met you, they have been speaking for about a month now".

Our laughs slowed down, taking deep breaths to calm ourselves down, "Well, I came in here to tell you I got the list for school supplies, and I was wondering if you would like to go out later with me". I looked down at the turtles, then turned my gaze back up to my mom, "But what about them?". She looked down at us and switched her gaze between the three of us, "How about this, put your crystal on, give me your dirty clothes, and I'll give you some clean clothes. And~ while I do some laundry, you can give these little stinkers a bath".

"Okay, where do you bathe them", leaving the twins on the bed and standing up, laughing as the chirps sounded loud inside the room, I placed the crystal around my neck, closing my eyes as a flash of light brightened the room. "I'll set it up, but you're going to do it in the kitchen sink", handing me an orange shirt from my drawer as well as a pair of socks and black overall shorts, after handing me the clothes she left the room, leaving me with the twins. I put the clothes on and sighed, loving the feeling of fresh clothes on my skin.

I stopped getting ready to the sound of sniffles and whimpers and turned around, frozen in space, Lita's body was shaking, looking around the room, searching for something, while Jennika was growling at me. I rushed forward, but stopped as Lita started to sob, crying louder than before, hugging Jennika into a tight hug, "What's wrong?!", I quickly pulled off my crystal, sliding it into my bedside drawer, turning back into my turtle form. Lita's crying calmed down to quiet sniffles, while Jennika looked confused, "*sniff* Baba?".

"Yes, it's me, Baba", I picked up the two, holding them close to my face, 'I guess they don't like human form yet', sighing as they placed their hands on my face, "I'm sorry, girls. I didn't mean to scare you". I carried them against my chest, rubbing gently lines into their shells, smiling as their soft sniffles left turning into quiet chirps as they rubbed their snouts against my shell.

I stepped in front of the sink, filled with warm water and a small amount of soap, with a stool placed off to the side. I gently placed the twins inside the sink, and picked up the toothbrush, swishing it around in the freshwater, "Okay, who wants to go first". Lita moved around and splashed the water, covering her sister in soap, laughing as she tapped her sister's shell, "Okay, Jennika, you're first". I chuckled, reaching for the green turtle who swam away, escaping my grasp, I picked her up and flipped her onto her belly, scrubbing the grooves in her shell, she fell limp in my hands, wagging her tail back and forth, churring happily. Flipping her over onto her back, continuing to scrub the grooves on her belly, she reached for the brush, tugging it away from her shell. "Come on, Honey Bee, sit still", I scrubbed the rest of her shell, placing the toothbrush off to the side. I picked up the washcloth, dumped it in the warm water, and wiped down her limbs, caring her off to the side, wrapping her gently in a fresh clean towel, and set aside peacefully laying in the warm sunlight that showed through the window.

"Okay, Sweat Pea~", I reached my hands up as I stared at Lita in the middle of climbing out of the sink, "Oh no you don't!", I picked up the small white turtle, tickling her little body, listening to her loud giggling. I picked up the tooth broth, and flipped her onto her belly, scrubbing her shell, then dipping the brush into the water, dirtying the sink water. Flipping her onto her back, scrubbing her belly clean in quick motions, causing her to giggle pushing the brush, "Aww is the little Sweat Pea, ticklish~". I brushed her shell faster, causing her giggles to become louder, kicking her feet in an attempt to push the brush away, "Okay, okay, I'll stop", I tossed the brush into the water and picked up the cloth, scrubbing the turtle limbs clean of sweat and dirt. I picked up the extra clean towel and wrapped it around her, leaving her freshly clean body in the sun. I smiled as the two sat still basking in the warmth of the sunlight, churring quietly, pushing their heads deeper into the towels.

"Alright, I just put in the last load in the washer", I picked up the sleepy turtles and turned around holding the small warm twins. "Oh Perfect, follow me", I followed her down the small hallway and entered the dark room, filled only with a small crib with a thin fabric that made a closed wall for the crib that sat in the far corner of the room as well as a blanket shoved into the opposite corner, both with a heating lamp screwed to the wall, keeping the surfaces warm for the two sleeping children. Walking over to the crib, I set the twins into the cribs without their towels, letting them form a turtle pile. "Alright, let's go have some fun. Go get your crystal", She said as she walked out of the room, making her way toward her room.

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I stood still as I looked at the entrance of the store, one I'd never been inside before, I stepped near the door amazed as the doors opened without my help, each door moving in opposite directions. My mom softly grabbed my hand and placed it on the cart, pushing the cart as she looked over a piece of paper she held, pulling her mask and glasses up, squinting at the piece of paper. "Okay first, backpack, let's go", she spoke gently, pushing the cart toward the school supply area.

We walked into the aisle, and looked over the many different backpacks, walking around the lane, I stared at the many patterns, some bags with one color, some with patterns, and even some with silly designs. I looked door the aisle and noticed one that caught my eye, I grabbed an orange backpack, but froze, behind the bag was a normal-sized black backpack with a pizza pattern. "Mama, can I get this one!", I smiled holding up the bag, bouncing repeatedly on the bottom of my feet. She picked up the bag, and looked at the tag that hung on the bag, "If it's too expensive-"

"No, it's actually cheaper than I thought, so yes you can have it", I smiled as she placed the bag into the cart, picking up the list, looking at the next item, "Next up...".

We continued the search, grabbing notebooks, a binder, paper, a ruler, as well as a bunch of other supplies, searching for the cheapest option we could find, I didn't want to spend alot of money, so I looked for the cheapest one. I watched as she looked at the bottom of the listen and smiled, "Alright we have one more thing then we'll be all done". She sighed and pushed the cart searching each lane, "Mom, what are we looking for?", I rested my hand on the edge of the cart, walking at the speed of the cart. "We're looking for a lunch box", I smiled walking down the needed lane, and froze, staring at two figures that stood at the end of the aisle, Casey and April. 'No why are they here? If they find out who I am, they'll take me back...I can't go back", my body shaking as I gripped the side of the cart.

I stood on the farthest side of the aisle, hiding behind mom. I tried to act normal as I looked over the options, my throat felt dry and looked at each one, gripping the side of her shirt, pressing myself gently into her side. "Mikey?", I scanned around and looked at the two, flinching as the two made eye contact with me, "Michelangelo?".

"Yes?!", she bent down onto her knee and pressed her hand into my cheek, "Mikey, hon are you okay?", I nodded, pressing my cheek deeper into her palm, "Mama, can we go home...". I looked into her eyes, begging her to take us home, "Sure, let's grab your lunch box, and will go pay, then go home, okay?", I nodded my head as she stood up.

"Hey I didn't mean to disturb you, but is he okay?", April's voice sounded behind my mom. She pushed me behind her back as she spoke to April, "Yes, we're completely fine, he's just nervous around strangers". I grabbed her shirt and pressed my face into her middle back, I looked around searching for a lunch box as Mom spoke to April, talking about something I didn't want to listen to. On the other side of the aisle, I noticed a bright orange lunch box lined with a nice shade of orange, however darker than the fabric.

I snuck off and walked toward the lunch box, reaching as high as I could, trying to grab the bag. "Here little man, so you're name's Michelangelo?", I flicked my gaze over to the voice, as he reached up and grabbed the lunch box, handing it to me. "Uhhh...yeah my name's Michelangelo", I grabbed the bag, and held it close to my chest, "Casey, let's go, leave the kid alone".

"I'm coming Red", he jogged off, strolling next to April, "Red, it's too much of a coincidence that he sounded just like their brother and had the same name, right?", I turned my gaze only to turn back around as I made eye contact with Casey, "No, I noticed too, plus did you notice he kinda looked weirdly like a human version of him", those words were the last I heard as they left the aisle, walking out with a lunchbox covered in a skull print. "Mikey, hon are you okay, you froze up", she placed her hand on my shoulder, I nodded and showed the lunch box, "What a nice color, okay what we'll do, we're going to finish this trip and get home", I nodded, grabbing the cart following her to the exit.

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I stood behind Mom, and kept my hold on the shirt she wore, rubbing my thumb over my finger, trying to calm down. "Come on sweetheart, let's get inside", She opened the door quickly and let me walk in first, as soon as she shut the door, locking it tight, I pulled off my crystal, and hid it inside a drawer. I pulled my bag off and threw it on the counter, quickly heading to the couch, hugging my knees tight, rocking back and forth. "Oh honey what's wrong, the whole trick went well until the end, did something happen?", my wet sobs came out of my throat as I nodded my head. "Here how about this-", she grabbed my cheek, gently making me face her as I felt tears fall down my cheeks, snot pooling out my snout, "-set up a blanket, and I'll go get your sisters".

She walked off to the twin's room, while I walked over to the blanket closet, and opened the cabinet, deciding to go with the fluffy blue blanket, and walking back to the living room.

I laid the blanket out and tossed a pillow at the top of the blanket, sitting on the sheet I held my knees, my sobs calmed down to a quiet sniffle. "Baba!", I looked back and smiled seeing the twins reach for me, Mom placed them on the blanket, quieting turning on a show for the twins. "Would you like tea, coffee, juice, water", I played with the twins and smiled as I helped them walk unsteadily, "Juice, please", my words raspy. "Buey! Baba! Buey", Jennika pointed at the TV, pushing herself up to her feet, taking slow steps toward the TV, "Oh my gosh! Mom come here!". I looked toward the kitchen as Mom popped around the corner, seeming slightly out of breath, "What's wrong, Mikey-"

"Jenny's walking!", I turned toward the small green turtle as she grabbed the TV stand, and turned around, walking back to me, "Come here, Honey bee". I smiled reaching for the little turtle as mom sat next to me, putting the plastic cup off to the side and a plastic container. "Yay!", I held Jennika into thr air, and brought her back down, repeatedly kissing the top of her head. "Ahhhh! Mikey look", I turned my stare over to the others, watching Lita walk toward Mom, then fell on her butt, clapping her hands. "I can't believe I got to see their first steps".

I played with Jennika, while mom played with Lita, letting her hold onto one of her hands, using the other to reach for the cup and container handing me the glass. I grabbed the cup, and slowly drank to cranberry juice, shivering at the sour taste, I opened my eyes and watched Mom pour the container, spilling small star-shaped crackers onto the blanket in front of the twins. The crackers caught their attention, and crawled over to the snacks that lay on the blanket. I picked one up and ate the crackers, noticing a taste of bananas. Smiling as Jennika clumsily walked over and placed her hand on my knee holding herself up, handing me a small star, "Oh thank you, Honey bee", smiling as I grabbed the cracker and ate it.

"Hey, Mikey?", I turned toward Mom, and stared at her, scratching small circles into Jenny's shell, listening to the small churrs that came from her. "There are some things I want to discuss, but first, what happened at the store early", my body froze hearing that question, looking at the small babbling turtle with drool pouring out her mouth, I pulled Jennika into my lap, my scratches slowed down, "Those kids...the ones that asked if I was okay?".

"Yes, what about them?", I looked down as I heard Jenny chirping, trying to get my attention. I continued to scratch her shell, only for her to press herself deeper into my shell, hugging my stomach, sniffling as she stared at me with her lower lip trembling. "They were friends with my old family...when I saw them, I was scared they would recognize me, and take me back there. When they left the aisle, I heard they recognized my voice, my name, thankfully they didn't know it was me, but still". I looked up at her, fear covering my face as I stared at her, "I don't want to go back, mama".

"And you won't, Mikey", she held Lita to her chest, letting the white turtle play with her black her, "But what if they find me and kidnap me after finding out who I am", she put Lita down, crawled over, wrapping her arms around, giving me a tight hug, "They won't". She pulled out with the hug, "I'll make sure of it...plus-", Mom stood up and walked over to the kitchen, I listened carefully, hearing the sound of what seemed to be a drawer opening, then soon after a few seconds, closing just as quickly.

"I was gonna give this to you tomorrow,  but I think this is the best moment to give it to you", she pulled her hand out from behind her back, presenting a small black box. I picked up the box, and looked up to her, confusion covering my face, "Go on, open it", sliding off the lid, and shoving it off to the side. I looked into the box, then noticed something shiny inside, "Is that?!", she nodded as I pulled it out, a new phone with a yellow casing with a hard clear case at the bottom of the box.

"Everything is set up, so all you have to do is put in my phone number, and you'll be ready for school in two days", smiled as I turned on the phone, and swiped straight for the camera, I picked up Jennika and set her next to Lita, taking a picture of the two, and looked at the photo, setting it as my home screen. Then froze, and quickly switch my gaze back to Mom, "Wait...what did you say?

She looked at me and took my new phone adding her contact, "You have school in two days". I stared at her as excitement and realization hit me like a train, "Huhhhh?!?!?!"

Chapter Text

~First Day of School~

POV Mikey:

*Knock* *knock* *knock*

"Time to get up, honey!", I opened my eyes and stared around the room, landing on the ceiling, 'how early is it', I slipped over onto my side, slowly pushing myself up into a sitting position, and opened my phone, entering the password. Pulled down the screen and noticed a new notification, "First Day of School...", my voice grumbled as I stared at the screen, confused about what the words meant, *gasp*, "It's the first day of school!". I jumped out of bed, throwing the sheets off my legs, and quickly made my bed. I opened and looked inside my backpack, making sure I had all my stuff inside, 'Perfect', I zipped my bag shut, slipping on my crystal.

Picking up the clothes I set aside on my dresser, and put on my long-sleeve shirt that was stripped with two bright colors, orange and yellow, then slid on black loose pants that hung just below my ankles, and barely tucked in my shirt, loose enough to come off baggy. I slipped on my shoes and walked out of my room with my bag hung over my shoulder, tugging my shoes on correctly. "Ready for school?".

"Yep, I'm so excited", I pulled off my crystal, walking over to the twins who stared at the television, Jennika noticed me and reached up, "Good morning, honey bee~". I picked her up above my head and blew raspberries into her stomach, smiling as she started giggling, slowing the teasing, putting her back on the blanket, and picking up Lita, her attention still stuck on the TV. I looked at her and tried to get her attention, but she was too focused, I kissed her on the forehead and put her back down, her eyes never looked away. I turned around and walked over to the kitchen, leaning on the counter, "Hey Mom, where's my lunchbox, I swore I left it in my room".

"Oh yeah, I grabbed it and packed your lunch, it's over there", I looked and walked over, my lunchbox sitting carefully off to the side. I picked up my bag and slipped it inside my backpack, zipping it shut, I pulled out my crystal and placed it on my neck, slipping it into my shirt, "Well, I'm leaving, see you after school, bye mom and girls!". I walked over to the front door, opening it slowly, "Wait honey, if you have no homework, can you meet me at my dojo", I turned around shutting the door, so no one could look inside, "Yeah sure, just text me the address, and I'll meet you there" I replied, pulling out my phone to check the time, "Great, have a nice day", I smiled, "You too mom", waving back as I left the house, making my way to my new school.

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I scrolled through my phone searching for a song to listen to, logging back into my music app, and playing the first song on the old playlist.

~Hug Me by Pharrell Williams, Trey Parker~

Exiting the music app, and turning off my phone, I walked down the street, looking at each building as I passed by them, searching for the school. Walking down the street I noticed the school a few blocks away, I pressed the crosswalk button, standing still while being crushed inside the crowd that was waiting to cross. Walking down the sidewalk, sliding through the many people, getting pushed and squeezed as people rushed by, running across the street as the road was clear of cars, and standing in front of the school. "Let's do this", I walked inside the building, staring at the wide hallways that were empty, with no students in sight, and saw an empty row of chairs, lining the side of the hallway. I walked over and dropped my bag onto the chair, pulling out my schedule and locker information, "Okay I have twenty minutes, first locker, Locker...#555".

Walking down the empty hallway, counting each green locker, then stopping as the hallway ended with Locker #499, I groaned, looking at the school map, and searching for my locker. Turning around, I noticed a student walking my way, turning up the stairs, "Um excuse me!", the girl turned and looked at me, coming back to the bottom of the stairs, "Yeah, can I help you?". I walked closer and showed her my locker information, "Can you help me find my locker, I'm new", she grabbed the paper and looked over the information, "Looks like your locker's near mine, I'm about to go there now, come on".

"So, what's your name and what grade are you in, new kid", I stepped up the stairs, looking over my schedule, "My name's Michaelangelo and I'm a first-year", she turned around the corner, slowing down so I could walk next to her. "Nice name, mine's Irma and I'm a sophomore, or second year as you said", her pace slows down to a stop, opening her locker. "Here's my locker, yours shouldn't be too far, if you wait here for a second I can help open it for you, it's a struggle to open these if you don't know how". I nodded and looked at my schedule, noticing my first class is Algebra 101, "And after, can you show me where Algebra 101 is? The teacher is Mr. Snaar", slamming her locker shut with a loud bang and tugged on the door, making sure it wouldn't open. "It's actually down the hall", pointing down the hallway, walking in the opposite direction, "And your locker is right here", stopping in front of the locker, I handed her the paper, letting her read the code to unlock it. "Have you had a locker like this before", I shook my head, pulling the bag back correctly onto my shoulder, "Well it's weird but basically, your twist to your first number, then you spin right for your second, then left, aaannnndd-". With a swift click, the locker opened wide, "You can get it open, so remember to start on your first number, then turn right, then left, and boom, unlocked", I opened my bag sliding my lunchbox inside the locker. "Well thanks, Irma", she shook her head, with a small grin, "Nah kid it's fine, in fact here-", she pulled out a sticky note and placed the sticky note inside, and began writing on it. "If you need anything, like your lost or don't know where your classes are text me", finished and covered the top with a thin piece of clear tape, making sure it can't fall off, "Well I'm off, see ya Michael", I waved my hand and turned around, walking to my first class.

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"Well hello, new students, and welcome to Algebra 101. Just for today, we're going to introductions, but first, there's going to be a seating arrangement, everyone comes to the front of the class and take a paper that shows your place...come on". I stood up from my seat and picked up my backpack walked to the front of the class, and grabbed a piece of paper, searching for my spot. 'Michelangelo. Michelangelo. Michelangelo~, ah ha!', I walked to my seat, and pushed through the many students, falling into my chair, setting my bag on top of my wooden desk. The seat was honestly close to where I was sitting before, but now I sat in the third row closest to the window.

"Okay everyone, let's start with introductions", he moved to the front of the room and began writing on the board, then gently placed the marker down, moving off to the side. "Class for introductions you are gonna tell us your name, whether that's your first name or your full name, it doesn't matter, as well as tell the class, your favorite color, favorite food, and a fun fact about yourself, I'll start first. I'm Mr. Snaar, my favorite color is dark green, my favorite food is tofu, and a fun fact about me is I teach the robotics class at this school". He walked away from the board and sat at his desk, signaling for the first student to begin, "Let's start with the back row, you by the window", I turned around seeing the kid behind me freeze up, talking about himself to the rest of the class.

I didn't look at the students as they talked, but I listened as each student talked about themselves, but I was stuck, 'What should I say as a fun fact, hEy I'm AcTuAlLy A mUtAnT tUrTlE, yeah no, oh I know-', I was broken out off my thought as the teacher clear his throat, I looked up and noticed him stared at me. "Oh umm, Hi, my name's Michaelangelo Shen...favorite color is orange, my favorite food is pizza, and fun fact...I love cooking...", he stared at me before signaling for the next student to begin their introduction.

The introductions continued, some taking longer than others until the last kid finished, "Awesome, know we got to learn a little about each other, I'm going to hand out your textbooks and syllabus for the years". The teacher handed out the books and packets to each desk that sat in the front of the class, asking each student to take one and pass the rest back. While the students handled the packets, Mr. Snaar handed out the textbook walking by each desk, "We're not going to look at anything, today is just orientation, so you can put the book away". Sliding my back into my bag, I looked to the front of the class listening to the teacher explain how the class will go.

For the next five classes, it went the same way, introducing ourselves and facts about ourselves, whether that was at our desks, standing at our desks, or in front of the class. Thankfully none of my teachers seated me in the front of the class, the closest was the second row, and each of my neighbors seemed pretty chill. But right now in my fifth class, there are no desks, there are not even textbooks...My fifth class is Physical Education, the only thing that comes with the class is a shirt with the school logo on it and a pair of shorts. In this class, I guess all we do is kinda mess around, which is fine with me but that's a problem...April and Casey are in this class as well. I stood in the crowd as the teacher spoke, then looked at the clock, "Okay for the last twenty minutes, we're just gonna do introductions, nothing difficult just name and favorite sport, go and stand in front of that wall". I walked over to the wall, standing near the middle of the line, a few people away from April and Casey. Listening as each student talked about themselves, I listened to the sports they said, upon hearing one that sounded interesting I decided to say it as my turn to talk was a moment away. "My name is Michelangelo Shen, and my favorite sport is dodgeball-".

"Michaela- what, that's your real name?!", I nodded as the teacher walked up to me looking down at me with a sour expression, "Yep, but I'm fine with Michael or Mikey", he shook his head, walking back to the center of the room, "Who named you, kid", his tone full of authority. I looked down at the ground and tried to think back to my past life, seeing if I remembered who named me, but I couldn't, no one came to mind. "I'm not sure, couch", silence filled the room as he looked over his shoulder, huffing as he told the next child to start, the class continued the same, but something felt off, looking from the corner of my eyes, I scanned my surroundings but nothing seemed weird, but why did it feel like someone was watching me.

*RRRRIIIINNNNGGGG*

The bell rang and signaled the end of the class, I stepped out of the gym and walked toward my locker, holding my PE uniform underneath my arm. I walked up to my locker and pulled out the paper fidgeting with the dial, trying to open the locker, "Michael, need help", I turned and saw Irma closing her locker, holding her lunch crinkling the paper. "Oh hey Irma, yeah please". She walked up to me and grabbed the paper, twisting the knob until it clicked, "Hey Irma, whatcha doin'", I shoved my PE uniform and backpack into the locker, reaching for the top shelf for my lunch bag as Irma continued to talk to someone. "Oh nothing, just helping this kid out, he's new, which reminds me. Hey did they show you where students eat for lunch?", I finally grabbed my lunch and looked over my schedule, "No, you're the only one that's help show me around".

I shut the locker, pulling on the door, making sure its shut. I turned toward Irma and froze, "Mikey, did you meet these two yet?", I followed beside Irma, opposite side of the other two, "Not officially", I smiled fakely as Irma lead the way through two doors into a wide open room. "Well, this is Casey Jones and this is April O'Neil, guys this is Michelangelo...", I smiled reaching my hand trying to seem nice, "Shen, Michelangelo Shen, we met at the store a couple of days ago, right?". April grabbed my hand and shook it, calluses covering the tip of each finger, and for a moment she stood still, frozen in place staring at me with the blankest expression, while Casey's handshake was more aggressive, his palms rough and dry, most likely from hockey. "Right, so Michelangelo, in PE I heard you didn't know who named you?", I opened my lunch, smiling when I noticed a small container of kimchi on the side. "Yeah, I don't really remember much about my old family", I opened my fried rice and chow mein, taking a large bite of noodles, "Wait, what do you mean", I looked up at the group, a noodle hanging out of my mouth, "Well, I'm adopted", my tone sounded flat as if everyone should've known, I finished off my chow mein, moving onto my rice, scooping the food into my mouth, "Oh so that lady, that was with you is your adopted mom?", I nodded, stabbing the kimchi with my plastic fork, shoving the lettuce into my mouth, "Now enough about me, tell me about you guys, like what grades are you guys in", they stared at me shocked as I finished off my kimchi and rice, closing my bag shut waiting for them to talk.

The four of us talked amongst ourselves, talking about things we liked, like food, hobbies, and other stuff, but while talking about myself, from the corner of my eye, I sometimes caught April staring, 'She couldn't have figured it out already has she?!'.

*RRRRIIIINNNNGGGG*

I picked up my lunchbox and said my goodbyes, walking toward the exit of the lunch room, and searching for my locker. I messed with the dial, smiling as the locker opened without help this time, "Oh looks like you got it now, quick learner", I smiled and picked up my backpack, staring at my class schedule. For the rest of my classes, the last three, were similar to the others, learning our seating arrangements, introducing ourselves to the rest of the class, and getting a textbook. However, for my last class, the class I was most excited for, art class, the teacher told us, we could sit where ever we wanted, and yes we introduced ourselves, but instead of a textbook, we were given, large sketchbooks. But this was the only class today that gave us homework, but this kind of homework I was fine with, in class the teacher talk about structure, specific shapes, and shading, teaching us the many different ways to shade, so for homework, Ms. McClade asked us to practice our shapes and shading, I couldn't wait, I never owned a sketchbook.

*RRRRIIIINNNNGGGG*

I picked up my backpack and ran for my locker, placing all my textbooks inside, except for my sketchbook. I slid my sketchbook and lunch box into my bag, zipped it shut, shutting my locker, "Hey, Mikey, I was wondering if you wanted to hang out after school", I looked toward the voice seeing April, Casey, and Irma, ready to leave, "Sorry guys, I'm meeting my mom at her job, but I'll see you tomorrow!". I ran away from them and waved them bye, turning toward the exit, and pulling out my phone. Standing in front of the school, I opened my conversation with Mom and copied the address she sent, entered it into the directions, and began walking to the dojo.

-------------------------------------

I walked up to the back of the building, and pulled out my layard, searching for the key that opened the back. Unlocking the door I walked in, locking it behind me, and pulled off my crystal, looking around the closed dojo, "Mom! I'm home!".

'The layout of the building was quite simple when looking at the design. The bottom floor was resigned, and the walls were destroyed with the exception of two rooms, the bathroom and the breakroom for employees. In the building, the entire bottom floor was turned into a dojo, for anyone to learn self-defense and Japanese weapon training, each one taking up two days of the week, as for the other three, are used for rest days, so the dojo is locked up those days, and the thick blinds are pulled down, so no one can look inside, no matter how hard they peek, and mom takes advantage of this and brings the twins down, so she can watch them while training.

And for the top floor, which is used as a living space, had three bedrooms, a bathroom, a medium-sized kitchen, and a living room.'

"Oh good, you're here, come, come", she waved me over, cleaning the weapons that hung niced in the locked glass case. "Baba!", I turned off to the side, and softly smiled, Jennika held with one hand onto the edge of the travel crib, jumping up and down, reaching out with the other hand, while Lita was laying on her stomach, biting on a rubber toy. "Hey, Honey bee~, sweet pea~", I rubbed their shells, listening to their soft quiet churrs, "Okay Mikey?", I turned around and walked over to Mom, standing straight in front of her, that was one thing I remember that I was taught by my old family, give your sensei or teacher the most respect, "Have you ever learned how to fight before".

"Yeah, my old family taught me as a ninja since I was five, but I haven't trained in a year, so my...skills aren't the best", I looked at her, my hands down at my side, "Would you like me to teach you". I looked down and thought over her question, deciding whether I should or not, after a few moments, I looked up and nodded, which only made her smile grow wider, "Hehe perfect, did you use a weapon".

"Yeah, I just don't know where it went, I fought with a nunchuck that can turn into a kusarigama", she walked off to the side, and picked up a clothed item, walking back over to where she stood. "Is this it?", fully unwrapping it, she handed my weapon back to me, I picked up the weapon and slid my fingers over the old wood, that still had its polished finish still intact.

"Now, show me your skills", she walked off to the side, and leaned against the wall, standing next to the twins' crib. In front of me stood a rubber dummy, that stood still. In the middle of the room taking a deep breath, I held my pair of nunchucks and opened my eyes. I sprinted toward the dummy, spinning my nunchucks around. I swung the end I didn't hold, and hit the dummy, over and over, using the swinging speed to make the hit harder. I jumped back away from the dummy, sprinting off to the side, and charged again, turning the weapon into a kusarigama, swinging the chains around the dummy, wrapping it tight, and pulling it down, causing a loud bang as it hit the ground. I stood still, my breathing coming out labored as I stood still staring at the dummy.

"Wow, that was stunning", she walked over handing me a rag, I grabbed the rag and wiped my forehead clean of sweat, "Well, while watching, for not practicing for almost an entire year, you handle that weapon quite naturally, you use it as an extension of your body, something most don't understand, however-", she grabbed my nunchucks, cleaning them off and setting them aside, "a good ninja shouldn't just learn one weapon", she opened the glass case, presenting all the weapons that hung on the wall, and stood next to it with her arms crossed, "Which one would you like to learn first".

Chapter Text

~One Month Later~

POV Mikey:

'I'm...happy. This life...this home, has made me the happiest I've ever been in my entire life, I get to live the life I always wanted, with siblings that love and adore me, and a mother that guides me through any issue, no matter how difficult the problem is, she'll help me overcome it and become stronger, she even took the time out of her day to teach me how to drive. She taught me how to use my nunchucks probably, fixing the few mistakes I had, and perfecting my technique. A couple of days after my first day of school, I've been perfecting my use of my old weapon, and now I've been practicing with a new weapon, the Kama. My mom has been teaching me stances and ways that will lead to an overall win with the kama. Training with my mom has been the best training I ever received, she doesn't make me feel lesser if I mess up, instead talks about the mistake and how it can be fixed, repeating the move correctly, which makes her proud.

I've grown so much in this home, not just in strength, but in brain power too. Mom doesn't belittle my intelligence, she was the first person who was ever proud of my work...no one else cares to even look, but her... whenever I pass a test, or ace my class, she rewards me, with food, making a big meal, well big for two people, or even going out, and having fun, heh. My sister looks up to me, they always want to be around me no matter what's going on, whether I'm doing homework, drawing, watching TV, or just resting, they want to be near me. Well, except if I'm in my human disguise. Lita after a few minutes got used to me, she was always the one that almost instantly loved new people, especially if they have fluffy hair, she won't stop playing with mine. However, Jennika still hasn't gotten used to that form, always running away from human me, looking for turtle me, she always glares at my human form, growling under her breath, but when she sees my human form when she wakes up, she'll start crying, calling for her brother, or baba, haha. I honestly think, when she sees an older turtle, that isn't her twin, she finds comfort in them, thinking of them as her protector. This is why, I get ready before greeting them, I take off my crystal and say bye to the girls, then when I am out of sight, I put it back on and leave.

School is everything I wanted, all the teachers help us grow, acknowledging our mistakes and growing from them. And for friends, I really don't have a lot, just me, Irma, Casey...and April. However, something about April is weird'.

"Hey, Mikey ready for PE today!", I slammed my locker shut, and followed Casey and April, walking to our next class, "Heck yeah man, I wonder what we're doing today". Walking down the hallway, I turned into the locker room, separating from April as we entered the guy's locker room, "All I know is I've heard from some other students, that it's going to be dodgeball again". I smiled and pumped my fist into the air, "Yes, I love dodgeball!", I walked into the bathroom connected, walking into the stall, locking it shut. I tossed my clothes over the door, and let them hang there, changing out of my casual clothing, "Yo, Mikey hurry up!".

"Okay, okay! I'm coming, chill", I pulled up my shorts and tucked my necklace into my shirt, pushing the door open. "God finally, Mikey, come on", he swung his arm over my shoulder, dragging me out of the locker room. I looked around the gym and stood off to the side waiting with Casey for April, "Yooo Red, over here", Casey called her over as the teacher walked to the front of the group, waiting for us to quiet down.

"Class! We're going to do twenty push-ups and thirty sit-ups, partner up, I don't care who just get a partner", I looked toward Casey, and walked toward him, but saw April partner up with him instead. I looked around the room, searching for someone alone, but almost everyone was partnered up, "Hey", I turned around, a tall kid with glasses stood behind me, "Do you have a partner?", I shook my head, "Well, wanna be partners?", I nodded, following his side, "Yeah sure, the name's Michaelangelo, but you can call me Mikey".

"Sweet name-", he lowered to the ground and lay flat on his stomach, "I'm Dannie". Dannie began to do his push-ups, his speed started out quick, finishing one after the other, but his pace slowed down until, after a couple of moments, he finished all twenty, seeming out of breath. Dannie sat up, his breath coming out labored, "You got it, man, just thirty situps", he groaned flipping onto his butt, and began doing situps, moving back and forth, his speed was steady, moving in a constant slow-paced, and finished, falling right onto his back out of breath.

"Okay, my turn", Dannie got up and moved out of the way, letting me sit down, I held my arms over my chest, and began moving back and forth, my speed was quick and constant, mentally counting down until I hit thirty situps, and sat up. "Dang dude, you didn't even break a sweat", laughing as I flipped onto my stomach, "Hahaa yeah, I kinda workout with my mom", I pushed myself and began moving up and down, staying at a constant speed. "She-", blowing out gushes of air as I pushed up, holding my stance, "owns a dojo, so yeah", continuing my pushups, and finished, sitting up. "Wait that dojo down the road", his tone barely above a whisper but he sounded so excited when asking, I nodded, standing to my feet, pulling him up, and began walking with him over to the rest of the students that finished.

"Okay class, listen up, we're going to play dodgeball, you two!", pointing at Casey and Dannie signaling to them to come to the front. Each of them took a turn and pick a person for their team. Immediately, Casey choose me and April, after five minutes the class was split into two teams. "Team Jones, walked other there, and the other team on this side", I walked over to my side, picked up one of the balls, bouncing it as I waited for the rest of my team, "Alright, and...", I rolled the ball over my palms, "Go!!!".

POV No One:

Mikey began the match, and stepped back a few steps, before chucking the ball, hitting a student in the arm, causing the ball to roll back into Casey's hand, he carried the ball with another in his other, chucking both at a single student, getting her out. "Casey, why'd you throw both?! At one person!", Casey groaned hearing a student complain about him getting a student out on the opposite. The student next to April was hit, and walked off the court, tossing the ball into April's hand, waiting off to the side. April looked around the court, and chucked the ball, only for the student to catch the ball, making April out, "You better when guys!". Mikey gave a thumbs up, chucking the ball and hitting the student's feet, Casey noticed on the other side there were two students left, while on his team, there were three. Mikey checked the ball, hitting the student in the hand, but the student stayed on the court, "Hey kid, you're out!", Casey yelled, chucking the ball at the other student, leaving the cheater alone on the court. "No, I'm not, he didn't hit me, I'm safe!", the kid picked up the ball, chucking it at Mikey, only for him to catch it, perfectly in his hands. Casey laughed and looked back at the student with the biggest smug grin, "Looks like you're out now~".

"What?! No, coach I'm not out!", Coach stared at him, nodding his head, "What!? No! I'm still in-"

"Dude, stop whining, you're out", Mikey yelled, bouncing the ball off the floor, and tossing it over to Casey. "Ach!- Coach!", the coach groaned rubbing the bridge of his nose as Mikey walked over to Casey and April, waiting for the coach's answer, "Kid, you're out, meaning team Jones wins", the three pumped their arm into the air and high fived each other, "Let's go!".

*RRRRIIIINNNNGGGG*

POV Mikey:

"Okay class, get out of here and go to lunch", I ran to the locker room and grabbed my clothes that sat on the bench, ran into the bathroom stall, changing into my casual clothes, a yellow shirt with one purple sleeve and one blue sleeve, lined with a bright red, and over the shirt were black overall shorts, matched with some yellow converse. I walked out of the stall, and noticed Casey just walking in, "Hey, man I just finished getting ready, I'll wait for you guys outside".

"Cool, I'll be out soon!", I ran out of the locker room and noticed April standing outside, chilling on her phone, and walked up to her, leaning against the wall near her about a foot away. "Oh my-, Mikey you scared me", I laughed, throwing my uniform over my shoulder, "Sorry, April, we're just waiting for Casey", I pulled out my phone, and opened one of my social media, looking at post art of my favorite shows, and even seeing how my art account was doing.

"Hey Mikey-, wait April got ready before me, damn!", I laughed, covering my mouth as I looked away, "What's that supposed to mean Casey-", she raised her hands, her body fully facing Casey, "You what it doesn't matter, can you go save our table I need to talk to Mikey real quick", I switched my gaze, and got nervous as Casey nodded his head, "Yeah, okay don't take to long, Red", with that Casey walked off, on his way to save our usual table.

April quickly turned around and grabbed my wrist, pulling me down the hallway, my wrist becoming sore. "Uhhhh April, where are we going?", she didn't answer and continued walking down the hallway, tugging my hand, left on one corner then right on another. She took the last turn, walking straight down a dead end, stopping as she looked around her eyes landing on a closet, "April...?". She walked toward the closet and slammed it open, shoving me inside and following me, she shut the door behind her and turned on the light, glaring at me.

I backed into the far end of the closet, and stared at her, my eyes widened as far as they could go, "April...you're scaring me...". My breathing became uneven as I stared at her as she walked up to me, no longer glaring, "Whoa, whoa, whoa, sorry, sorry, I didn't mean to scare you, can you please calm down for me?". I took a deep breath, staring at April as she grabbed my shoulder, my breathing calm down but was still shaky, "You good now?", I nodded, staring at her as I let out a deep breath, "Okay, good...".

"Mikey...I know it's you"

Everything around me felt slow around me, moving almost in slow motion, I stared at her, fear forming on my face, and forming a large knot in my gut, becoming very uncomfortable. Tears fell down my face as I fell to my knees, grabbing my head tightly, and pulling my head into my chest. "I-I don't know *gasp* what you're talking about", she placed a hand on my shoulder, I flinched under her touch, "Mikey, you can't deny it, I know it's you", I looked up at her, my eyes lids swollen, "How did you know?".

She backed up, and rub her hand over her shoulder, "The first day of school, when I shook your hand, I accidentally read your mind-", I groaned as the words started making sense, placing my face in my palms, "Your powers grew over the past year, and now your read minds...".

"Wait why did Casey nod his head earlier?", I stood up walking over to April, "Cause we thought it was too much of a coincidence that there was a human duplicate of you, we wanted to see, but now that I know I can tell everyone-".

"NO!", she froze as I yelled grabbing her shoulders, I released my hold and backed away, "No...you can't", she looked at me shocked, stepping toward me. "But why, everyone's been looking for you?!", I shook my head, as the tears continued to fall, wetting my shirt, "I don't want to go back. I can't go back. I need my family, and my family needs me".

"They are your family, Mikey, they miss you-"

"No. They. Dont! They never cared about me, and you want me to go back, just because they feel guilty, no. I'm staying with my real family...". I pulled out my phone, and aggressively entered my password, going straight to the home screen and shoving it into her face, "They are my family, they are the only family I will fight for, not that old one". She grabbed the phone and stared at the photo, she looked so lost, "But, why did you leave, a-a-and, how are you human?!". I sighed and wiped the tears from my cheeks, rubbing them onto my sleeves. "Look, if you want to know everything, come to my place and I can explain it to you, but you can't tell anyone, not even Casey. I don't really trust him with secrets".

"No, I understand, but you better answer all my questions, Mikey. In exchange for not telling anyone, okay?", I nodded rubbing my eyes clean of tears, my eyes still slightly red, "Yeah, thanks April", she smiled rubbing the top of my head, chuckling, "No problem, Mikey".

-------------------------------------

"So, why can't we come with you, again", I played on my phone waiting for April to finish talking with the others, "Because, I messed up and scared, so I'm gonna pay him back for it", Casey groaned and walked down the steps, Irma way ahead of him. "Fine, Imma head home, see you guys tomorrow!", I waved still staring at my screen, playing my old favorite game, Battle Cats.

I walked down the road with April by my side, "So when, did you start living with your mom", I looked away from my phone, then looked back at the screen, smiling as I won a battle, "I'll explain everything when we get to my place". Putting away my phone I looked up and saw the building, "There it is", I pressed the crosswalk button, waiting for the signal to alert us. Hearing the signal I walked forward, and stopped in front of the dojo, pushing open the door, "Mikey, what are we doing here?". I smiled and walked in, seeing my mom train today's self-defense group, "Hey Mom ~", she looked up to me smiling, then froze and walked over to another employee, then signaled me over walking to the break room, "Hey April, I need to talk to my mom real quick, stay here", she nodded and looked around.

I pushed open the door and closed it right behind me, "Mikey, why is she here? I have no problem with you having friends but the twins are upstairs, plus weren't you scared about her bringing you back"

"Yeah, I was but she kinda found out who I was, but I made sure she didn't tell anyone, she said she'd keep my secret if I explain everything to her...", Mom pinched her nose and sighed, closing her eyes tight, "Well, if you trust her then I trust her, but if she does anything to you..."

"She won't mom, it's okay. So can I bring her upstairs?", she smiled and nodded her head, walking toward the door, "Let her know she can make herself at home, and have anything in the fridge, and if you need anything call me". I ran up to her and hugged her, "Thanks, have fun with work", I opened the door and ran over to April, tapping her shoulders, "Come on, we can go upstairs". I ran around the side of the dojo and pulled out my lanyard unlocking the door, "Okay come on".

I walked into my living room and made my way to the blanket closet, grabbing the largest, but also softest blanket we had, walking back to April. "Hey can you lay this in front of the TV, I'll be right back", handing the blanket carefully into her arms, "Uhh yeah, I can do that".

"Thanks, when you're done, make yourself at home", walking down the hallway, I stepped into the room and smiled, Lita wide awake, chirping while Jennika, was still sleeping. I picked up the twins and carried each one on my hips and stepped out of the room, walking toward the living room, "Ohhh my gosshhhh, they're so cute", I chuckled as placed Lita in front of April, turning on the TV, going straight to Bluey. I looked down at Lita and smiled as she sat still looking up at April, reaching up to her, "Hey, I'm gonna get them some food, do you want anything to drink? We have water, cranberry juice, orange juice, apple juice-"

"Water is fine", I walked into the kitchen, and grabbed a cup from the cupboard, placing it on the counter. Opening the freezer, waking Ice Cream Kitty up from her deep sleep, *meow* "Hi Kitty~", licking the top of her head and closing the freezer, then opening the fridge next. I grabbed a water bottle and the jug of apple juice, placed them on the counter, sliding off my crystal. I placed the necklace onto a towel, wrapped it closed, then pour the juice, doing all this with one hand. I bent down grabbed the star crackers for the twins, placed them under my chin, and grabbed the bottle with my free hand.

"Here, April, hopefully, a water bottle is fine", her eyes widened as I placed the bottle in her hand, probably shocked since she hasn't seen my turtle form in so long. I drop the crackers, on the blanket, and walked back to the kitchen, placing the towel into the hand that held Jennika up, and grabbing the cup of juice with the other.

Sitting down on the blanket and leaning against the couch, I set the towel and cup off to the side, cradling Jennika against my chest, scratching small circles into her shell, "I can see why you want to stay here". I looked up at April and chuckled as Lita stood in April's lab, playing with her hair, "Can you tell me their names", I grabbed the container of treats and poured the little stars onto the blankets.

"Well, the one on your lap is Lita, but I call her sweet pea, 'cause she's a very friendly turtle, even to new people. And this little sleeping beauty is Jennika, but I call her honey bee, 'cause once you first meet her she's a little feisty, but when she gets used to you she's a sweetheart. They're both twins".

"Well little Lita is so cute~", she picked her up and kissed Lita's cheeks, making her start to giggle, "Ahh yes you are haha...Mikey, who knew you were gonna be the first to have kids, especially this cute~".

I sat still and looked up at her shocked by the words she said, "What...?", she laughed placing Lita in her lab, handing her some of the crackers, "April, these aren't my kids...they're my sisters...", she looked at me, frozen still, I snorted then laughed, accidentally waking Jennika, "Oh my gosh, that makes so much sense".

"Ba...ba?", I looked down at Jennika as she stretched her arms, "Hey Honey bee", she blinked up at me, before falling back to sleep, hugging onto me, her face pressed against my chest.

"Okay, moving on to the first question. Mikey, how did you turn into a human?", I turned around and grabbed the towel, slowly unwrapping it, so I didn't wake Jennika again, "I use a crystal I found a while ago", I grabbed the crystal, turning into a human through a flash of light. I opened my hand showing off the crystal, "See", smiling I looked up to her but my smile dropped seeing her face, full of fear, staring at the crystal, then slowly looked down at me.

"What..."

Chapter Text

POV April:

Shock and fear covered my face as I stared at the necklace, Mikey held up, smiling until he saw my face. The small baby snacks fell out of my hand onto the floor in front of Lita, "Where did you get that...", Mikey put the crystal away and covered Jennika in the excess blanket, covering himself as well, ignoring my question. "Mikey...", he looked away, but I noticed his grip on his sister grew tighter, hugging her more, "Where did you get it". I scooted closer to Mikey, and leaned against the couch, staying a good foot away, he continued to look away but he mumbled something under his breath, chopped up between sniffles and hiccups. "Where, Mikey?", he covered his face with one of his hands, sobbing quietly, 'Has he always cried this quietly', I placed my hand on his shoulder but froze as he flinched at the touch of my hand, "I found it during a mission...about a year ago, when we went to TCRI, to get the power cell". I sat there speechless, staring at the turtle next to me, trying to think of the right words to say, "Mikey, do you know how dangerous that could be?!", my expression sadden as Mikey curled in on himself and his sister as I yelled, "Look, I'm sorry I didn't mean to yell, but seriously mikey, kraang technology isn't safe, for all you know this crystal could already be hurting you?!".

"But it's not...well not recently it hasn't", mumbling the last part I glared at him, "What?!"

"Look when I started wearing the crystal it did cause really terrible sickness, nausea, body pain, or fever, but over time my body's gotten used to it, they're honestly rare nowadays. And...", he muttered and looked away, tears still streaming down, "Mikey, talk now!"

"Fine, the crystal removed all memories of the old family...", my glare grew harder as his words set in, "But that's all, besides that I'm completely fine-".

"What parts...", he looked at me, his body quaked as I glared at him, "Wha-"

"What parts...don't you remember", he looked down at the small turtle, chuckling as Lita walked over to Jennika's sleeping body, giving her snacks, "The crystal erased a lot about the old family, I don't remember their faces, their names, what their personalities were like, their gender or age, even what type of mutant they are, heck I don't even know if the old family was even mutant...I don't even remember where the old home was...but I do remember one thing about my past, my old friends and allies...". I chugged the water thinking over his words, and gasped for air, "And that's why you don't know who named you", he nodded and placed Lita in between the both of us, "-But why did you freak out at the store, a little bit ago", he sighed as he continued scratching his sister's shell, causing her to make a noise close to purring.

"I was terrified...I was so scared that if you found out, you would take me back...back to that hellhole", he paused and smiles as Jennika finally woke up, smiling wide as possible once she saw Mikey, cooing happily. She turned toward me no longer smiling and began growling, "No Honey bee, this is my friend", I waved as her growling became quiet, but was still there, "With this crystal, I can finally have a normal life, I can be free and act however, I want without being lectured to, yelled at, and disciplined. I get to live a life with no constant battles every night, protecting a city, that would kill us the moment they see me, the real me....why should I protect something that would turn its back on me the moment I need help...I'm fourteen years old, April. I shouldn't be saving the world, I should be learning, having fun, not debating whether or not I am gonna live after a mission", he sighed, rubbing his hand over his head, "The old place my siblings always looked for any little mistake I made, even if I did everything correctly, they lectured me on the one thing I did wrong".

I smiled as Lita walked over to me, handing me some of the baby snacks, I took them and ate them, weirdly likely the taste, "If I'm going to be completely honest April, I'm glad I don't remember the old family, why would I ever go back, and now since I don't remember anything, nothing will remind me of them, leading to another breakdown like when you met me"

"But Mikey!-"

*RRRIIINNNGGG* *RRRIIINNNGGG* *RRRIIINNNGGG*

I groaned loudly and picked up my phone, checking who was calling me now at all times. Turning on the phone I saw the photo, it was Donnie, "Hey, Mikey, someone's calling, stay quiet real quick", he nodded as I took a deep breath, answering the phone.

-------------------------------

Me: "Can I help you, Donnie"

Donny Boy: "I was wondering if you were coming over for patrol later, Casey's already here, so we're just waiting for you"

Me: "Oh crap, uhh no, I'm busy, so I'll see you guys tomorrow"

Donny Boy: "If you need help with homework I can help, what's is it math, chemistry-"

Me: "No, I promised to hang out with my friend, so I'm with them right now, look I got to go, see you guys later-"

Donny Boy(Casey talking): "Is that April?!"

Donny Boy: "Yeah, she's not coming over, so we're doing patrol without her"

Donny Boy(Casey talking): "What?! April are you still with our classmate?!"

Me: "Ughhhh yes, now I'm hanging up now, I feel bad walking away from him to talk to you guys so bye!"

Donny Boy: "Wait, him?!-"

-------------------------------

I hung up my phone and shut the phone off entirely, tossing it onto the couch, groaning as I placed my face in her hands, rubbing my eyes. Lita tapped my lap and moved my arms out of the way, crawling into my lap, pointing at the TV, and looking at Mikey. "Baba! Buey! Buey!", Mikey chuckled as he picked up the remote, going straight for the kids' show as Jennika, crawled out of his lap and sat in front of Lita and me, holding her hand and glaring at me. "Heh, Jennika is a little feisty one...", I sighed and leaned back against the couch, laying my head on the cushion, "...Mikey, I just want you to know that, I can't control what you do, your life is your life, but I just want you to know that I'm just worried about you, you're kinda like a younger brother to me, I want to keep you safe, but if this is what you really want than I won't do anything to take this from you. Just please promise me you won't wear that necklace constantly...please".

I chuckled as Jennika glared at me, pulling her sister toward her, Lita whining and falling on top of her sister, smacking her face, "Hey quit you two, she's nice", Mikey pulled the two apart, and chuckled as he looked at me, "And I promise...if I'm being honest, I only wear it when I am in front of others or outside, but if no one's around I don't wear it".

"Good...hey what happened after you ran away, where did you go...", he placed the twins between us, Lita next to me and Jennika next to him, they stared at the show, not breaking eye contact from the screen.

"After I left, I lived on the streets for a good while begging for money to pay for food and water if I couldn't find any, sometimes I would go days, maybe even a week without food, everything was too expensive to buy. And before I ran away, Mondo, gave me a vape, I didn't know what it was at first, but the smoke took the tension out of me, it was nice, up until I ran out of the stuff, I tried buying another one, but I was too young, I had no ID to prove my age, plus it was too expensive, so because of the sudden stop of smoke, I...did the only thing that could help with the addiction, fighting. I'd run around in my turtle form, searching for enemies to fight, Kraang, shredder's goons, anyone, but nothing helped. Thankfully after two months of no smoking, I finally calmed down, and was able to focus, sometimes I still jitter, but I learned to ignore it", he took a deep breath, breathing out shakily, sniffles quietly sounded as he sat still trying to calm down.

"I had been living on the streets in the alleyway by Murakami-san's noodle shop with Ice Cream Kitty, she was my only form of comfort, my only form of family, up until more than a month ago, my mom or Tang Shen, saved me...", he pulled his legs to his chest, pressing his face into his knees, "She found me when I was weak...like I said before the crystal was the reason for my harsh sickness, and pain, I said I got used to it, and I did but on very rare circumstances, the sickness and pain would become unbearable, it's only happened twice within the time between leaving and now, the worse one was the first of the two, my fever was so high, I started seizing. But like I was saying the second time was when she found me, I was laying in the alley, shaking and in so much pain, she found me and took me to her home, taking care of me until I fully recovered. When I woke up, she made sure I was okay, and asked why I was living on the street, mind you she found me as a human, then when she cleaned me up, she took off my crystal and I turned back. After explaining everything and her showing me the twins, she asked me if I wanted to stay, I thought it over and said yes, but her only request was I used the crystal to go to school, so I agree, I've always wanted to learn, but no one wanted to teach me"

"Why didn't you ask, Donnie", lifted his head from his knees and stared at me confused, "Uhhh who? Oh do you mean Dannie, I just met him today in PE", I shook my head, "No, I mean your brother".

"My old family?"

"Yes, yes why didn't you ask him", he sighed as Jennika crawled over to him, tapping his lap and pointing at the cup, "Baba! Baba!". He chuckled and picked up the cup, holding it as she grabbed it as well, taking big gulps, he tipped back the cup and held it away from her, gaining Lita's attention, "Sweet pea, want Juice". She lifted her hands reaching for the cup, trying to grab it, he tipped the cup, letting her drink the rest, "All gone~", tapping both of their backs, "And April I did ask them, but they never listened to me, I'd asked them to teach me, so I could do it on my own, but they never did, saying I would be too stupid to understand, no one didn't even want to hang out with me, claiming I was too annoying",

"Why didn't you ask me or Casey", he stared at Jennika, not moving, his eyes open, I could basically see the gears rotating in his head, "I...don't know, I just thought if my family didn't want to teach or hang out with me, why would you guys...", I looked at him, his words left me feeling kinda offended, but I could see where he was coming from, why would people you just met a couple of months ago help you if your own brothers won't, "...Okay I get what your saying, I guess, but still".

We sat in silence, aside from the television and the chirps from the small turtles, Mikey and I no longer looked at each other, we just stared blankly at the TV as Mikey handed me a teething toy for Lita, "Do you still train". I stared at the small dogs on the TV, the two singing about a little bug, "Yeah, but my mom told me that ninjas, shouldn't know just one weapon, so when she thought I perfected my nunchucks, I chose a new weapon to train with", Lita stared at the screen, babbling the song that played on the TV, "What do you fight with now".

"The kama, it's like...you know that part on my nunchuck that has the blade", I nodded my head still staring at the screen, 'This show is so cute', Lita climbed into my lap and grabbed my arm, pulling the teething toy into her mouth, "That's basically what it is without the chain, and I fight with two of them".

"Hey...I'm proud of you, Mikey, you really became something inspiring...", I picked up Lita and sat her comfortably in my lap, munching on the little baby stars, "When you disappeared, I tried so hard looking for you, so determined to find you and bring you home, and when I shook your hand and saw everything inside your mind, I was conflicted, that's why I wanted to talk to you. I knew it was you, but I needed to know why you left...", I held a few of the stars in front of Lita, letting her grab from my hand, her hand drenched in spit.

"My powers can read and see thoughts, but I can't feel the emotions going through your mind during those events. My goal was to try and persuade you to come back home to your family, but after seeing your mom, and your sisters, my goal changed completely. And now looking back on it, you never did look happy with your brothers...your smile always looked so fake, like you just had to smile, but here when I saw you talking to your mom and sisters, you looked so genuinely happy...", I smiled, starting the small scratches in her shell that Mikey did to Jennika, "I think...this is the change you needed, Mikey", Lita repeatedly tapped my knee, "I think so too". Lita tapped my knee harder gaining my attention, "Baba!!!", she looked at Mikey, tapping my knee, "Yes, sweet pea, what's up?", she looked at him then turned to me, "Sissy!". We froze for a few seconds, then started laughed as Lita continued to call me sissy, "Sweet pea, this is April, come to Lita, April", he repeated my name slowly, sounding it out for her, she stared at me, "Sissy Aypple!"

"Close enough, Lita", I said and picked her up, standing her up, and bouncing her on her feet. "So, I'm guessing baba, doesn't mean dad, does it", Mikey laughed and stood up, scratching his arms, "Yeah, they can't pronounce brother, so they call me baba", walking over to the kitchen, "Hey are you hungry, my mom made some Chicken Katsu with rice".

"Yeah sure, nothing really spicy though please", he gave me a thumbs up, leaving me with the twins, Lita sat on my lap looking around, then looked at me, making grabby hands, while Jennika stared at me, growling loudly. Mikey walked back with a plate, placing it in between me and Jennika, who continued to glare at me, "There weren't a lot of crackers for them, so here are some bananas for them, they love them". He walked away back to the kitchen, Lita pointed at the fruit, switching her gaze between the fruit and me, "Sissy! Sissy!", She pointed at the banana causing me to smile, I picked up a small slice, and held it in front of Lita as she grabbed it from my hand.

Picking up my phone from the couch, turning it on all the way, I enter my password, cringing as my notifications were full of texts from Casey and Donnie, 'You know what, I don't have Mikey's new number, oh shoot it's almost seven'. Placing Lita onto the floor, I moved up to the couch and opened my backpack, pulling out my math book, and going to today's homework.

I pulled out a piece of lined paper and started the assignment, thankfully today's math homework wasn't that hard. I looked up to see the twins staring at the TV, Lita looked around and noticed me sitting on the couch, she pushed herself up and sat by my legs as one of her arms hugged my leg, pressing her cheek against my calf.

I read out my questions, using the extra paper to solve the problem, I wrote down the answer, moving on to the next question, each one taking a few minutes. "April, here you go", Mikey walked out of the kitchen, and handed me a plate of rice and breaded chicken on top, with a sauce on the side. I moved my homework out of the way and took a small bite of the chicken, the crunchy bread warmed my mouth, "Oh my god, Mikey your mom can cook". I looked at the sauce on the side of the plate, and dipped the tip of my fork into the sauce, tasting the unknown, 'Wow, that's good', I mixed it into the rice, took a bite, and stabbed the chicken, taking a quick bite. Pulling out my phone I handed it over to Mikey, placing it in his hand, "Hey, can I have your number, just in case", he nodded, typing his number in my phone, calling himself, so he could get my number.

I looked down at the ground and noticed the towel that held his crystal, Mikey picked it up, slipping it into the side table, looking back at the TV. "Mikey...I need you to listen carefully", Mikey looked at me while chewing a large piece of chicken, "A couple of days ago during a mission we found out that the Kraang finished perfecting the mutagen...", I placed my plate onto the side table, "Mikey... it's coming soon, and when it does you have to get your family out of here, somewhere safe".

"What do you mean, what's going to happen?!", he placed his plate off to the side, worry all over his face, "The Kraang Invasion...".

Chapter Text

POV Mikey:

Shoving my empty lunch box into my backpack, full of books, I zipped it shut with a sketchbook under my arm, "Ready for art class, Michael", I nodded and slammed the door shut, tugging on the door. "Heck Yeah, I heard we're finally starting a project", I ran up and walked beside her. The classroom was close, just around the corner, and there was the room. Turning the corner, our art teacher stood by the door to greet us, "Hello, Irma. Hello, Michelangelo".

"You know you can call me Mikey or Michael, Ms. McClade", she laughed and walked behind us, stepping through the door just in time as the bell rang, signaling class is starting, "Teachers are told that it is inappropriate to give nicknames to students...plus, when am I gonna get another student named after a famous artist, quite rare", she walked to the front of the class and grabbed a clipboard, writing down names on the board, not student names, just names.

She walked away from the board and stood off to the side, "Okay students look up at the board", looking over the names, I recognized a few, they were all famous artists. "Each of you is going to pick one of the artists on the board, recreate an art piece by them, using any of the materials in the rooms, and do a little bit of research on the Artist and the art piece, this will all be due in three weeks. For the artist, I need their name, date of birth and death, and birthplace. For the art piece, when it was created, why it was created, and the meaning of the painting, if there is no meaning, just tell me when and why the painting was made. Alright, we'll start with the..."., she looked away, rolling her fingers through a jar of sticks that each had one of our names on them, "Michelangelo".

I looked at the board knowing a lot about a few of the artists, but I wanted someone new, looking around, my eyes caught the name, "Uhhhh...Andy Warhol", she crossed the name off the board, silently letting the students know the name was taken. The teacher continued picking names from the jar, pulling them out, and calling the students names, from what I heard this is students' least favorite thing in the world, but I think it's fun and mysterious. "Irma", opening my sketchbook I practiced my shading with fun shapes, even limbs, "Enigmatic Rene Magritte".

"Ohhhh fun, okay that's everyone, and class if you want extra credit, I want you to take the art piece you chose and add something to it, it doesn't matter what, all I ask is that it must be in the same style...alright, you may begin".

I walked over to the back of the class grabbed a medium sizes canvas and walked back to my seat, looking up the artist, searching for the best art piece to do that wasnt so hard, but not too easy. I pulled out my phone and searched for my artist, researching the person and art was the easy part, plus I didn't want to waste time, so I scrolled through the images of art pieces, landing on one, the tomato can. 'But how can I twist it for extra credit', an idea crossed my mind, and began sketching the design, you see in the original the painting is just a soup can, nothing special, just that, well to add spice, I sketched out the design, the can instead of standing was open, laying on a flat surface, the sauce spilling out onto the flat surface.

With practice over the last month, I started with the structure and used the dimensions, making the piece seem more three-dimensional, drawing the structure of the can laying flat, angled perfectly so you can see the inside of the can. I began adding the details to the can, and the designs on the paper, sketching ripped pieces, and cleaning up the lines making the sketch almost done. I sketched the line where the sauce spilled and marked down on the large areas what the colors were, "Wow, Michelangelo, that's really impressive, changing his art piece into something with more feeling, good job".

*RRRIIINNNGGG* *RRRIIINNNGGG* *RRRIIINNNGGG*

Smiling, after hearing the compliment, I watched the teacher walk up to the front desk, and answered the call, "Ms. McClade's room, how can I help you?", she hummed when she answered the person's questions, then froze, searching for something on her desk, moving all the papers, opening each drawer, shifting all the items shoved into her desk, "Oh come on, where the heck is that stupid piece of plastic. Not here, not here...Ah ha!", until she finally pulled out the remote, fumbling with it until she turned on the TV, switching straight for the news channel, "class shhh, watch...", she turned up the volume, so the rest of the class could hear.

"Hello, people of New York, Robotic aliens are walking up and down the streets of the city, terrorizing the people of New York City, turning them into what seems, to be weird gum people? Anyways, be cautious, when going outside, we advise you to stay indoors in your own home. Stay safe, everyone"

*BEEP* *BEEP*

"CODE ORANGE! I REPEAT CODE ORANGE! ALL STUDENTS AND STAFF OF ROOSEVELT HIGH SCHOOL PLEASE EVACUATE OFF THE PREMISES AND HEAD HOME, WHERE IT IS SAFE! I REPEAT CODE ORANGE! STUDENT AND STAFF OF ROOSEVELT HIGH SCHOOL PLEASE EVACUATE OFF THE PREMISES AND HEAD HOME, WHERE IT IS SAFE!"

"EVERYONE RUN, GO HOME NOW!!!", the teacher yelled to the students as she packed her stuff. I threw my bag over my back and grabbed my sketchbook and canvas, and sprinted out of the classroom. Charging down the hallway, turning left one hall, and jumping down the staircase onto the bottom floor, 'I need to get home. Mom! Lita! Jennika! Please be okay...', I sprinted toward the front doors of the school and pushed them open. I jumped down the stairs, and ran for the dojo, running as fast as I could, pushing through the crowds of terrified people. Not bothering to press the crosswalk button I ran across the street, noticing the front door was still shut, with the van parked on the side in the alleyway. Using the key, I unlocked and opened the back door, two baby car seats in the middle row, I chucked my backpack into the back seat, threw my canvas and sketchbook next to it shutting the door tight.

I ran to the front door and tugged on the handle, it was unlocked, running inside I locked the door behind me, making sure no Kraang can get inside. I turned around and froze, the door to our home...was wide open, *ding* I pulled out my phone, and my eyes became even wider looking at the text from Mom, an address and a text reading, "Take the girls here, it's a family farmhouse out of town, it's safe, hurry!!!".

Running to the case of weapons, I pulled out the kamas and took off the protective sheath, releasing the blade, and ran upstairs, climbing quicker and quicker until I reached the top, slamming the door open. But stopped there on the floor laid a kraang droid, stabbed in the gut with a knife in its stomach cavity, no longer alive, and my mom laying still next to it, "Mama?".

I broke out of my trance hearing the loud cries of babies, "LITA AND JENNIKA!!!". I ran down the hallway, and slammed their door open, I stood there staring at one of the many things I left in my old life, the kraang. Anger filled me as the droid reached for my sisters, ready to grab them and leave. I charged at the droid, it pulled out his gun, but before it could shoot, I chopped off his head, and grabbed the kraang, ripping it out from its cavity. Everything around me turned red, I pushed the creature deep into the wood using all my weight to crush it, raising my weapon and stabbing it multiple times, squeals filled the room as I stab the creature, over and over and over, until...it stopped moving. I threw the corpse on the ground with all my might, and stomped on it, mashing it into disgusting paste.

I ripped off my crystal and picked up the twins, hugging them tight, laughing as the girls hugged me back, tears falling down all our faces, I pulled away and looked at them, kissing both their foreheads, they looked so tired, but now not the time, we need to leave. "I'll be right back girls, so stay very quiet", kissing them on the top of the head, I placed them back in the bed, placing my crystal back on.

I sprinted out of the room and pulled out three suitcases from the closet in Mom's room tossing them onto her bed, and opening the medium mag, without care I grabbed enough of her clothes, shirts, pants, socks, undergarments, anything even a brush, tossing all her shower stuff and purse into the bag, zipping it shut. In another suitcase, I packed mine and the twins' stuff, for me a few outfits, and the 3-in-1 shower bottle, with the extra room, I threw in the baby stuff, diapers, sippy cups, their snacks, and all the important stuff. And for the last and largest bag, I ran to the kitchen, shoving all the dry and can goods into the bag, nothing that will rot.

I ran down to the car, shoving all three bags into the trunk of the van, shutting it behind me, and running back inside, I noticed the travel crib and folded it up, tossing it into the back as well. With room in the trunk still left, I ran back inside the dojo and shoved the weapon case open, grabbed all the weapons, tossed them into the trunk, and whatever didn't fit along with my kamas, went in the backseat with my backpack. I ran up the stairs and climbed as fast as I could, 'All that's left is the family, we can't do the girls first, if someone sees them, game over, so mom, then Ice Cream Kitty, and then the twins'.

Slamming open the door, and picked Mom up, cradling her down slowly the stairs, making sure I didn't hit her head. Stepping on the bottom step, I ran to the backdown, quietly pushing it open, I walked over to the passenger door and opened it, gently placing Mom on the chair, and putting on her seat belt. I closed the door, flicked the lock, and ran back inside, using the railing I pulled myself up the stairs, and ran inside, sprinting straight for the kitchen. Running straight for the pantry, I pulled out the old cooler and ran to the freezer swinging it wide, only to see a wide-awake cat, "Come on, Kitty, we need to leave it isn't safe", I picked up her bowl and slid it inside the cooler, closing it shut. I ran down the stairs and placed her in between the two middle and the two in the front, keeping her still, 'Two more to go'.

I sprinted through the living room, and ran straight into the twins' room, picking both of them up, caring each one on my hip, and walking as fast as I could out of the room and to the door, I stopped and turned around, 'I hope we come home one day'. I quickly shut the door and ran down the stair to the van, locking all the doors behind me, and turning off all the lights, the twins clung to me, too terrified to cry. I pulled open the door, and gently placed Jennika down first into the car seat, making sure she was in tight, shutting the door as I finished. I ran around to the other side, making sure Lita was out of sight, and put her inside the seat, buckling her in tight as well, I pulled two of the blankets that stayed in the van and covered each twin, keeping them warm and hiding them from anyone.

I locked all the doors and jumped into the front, turning on my GPS, and entering the address into the app. I drove forward and turned onto the road, surprised to see no cars on the road, just people running up and down the street getting chased by kraang. I punched the gas, and sped down the road, hitting Droid and after Droid, the car was gonna have a dent by the end of today, but I didn't care, I need to get my family out of there and safe.

My speed grew faster and faster, following the directions, adrenaline flowing through my body. I zoomed out of there, followed directions, and looked at the road ahead of us, smiling, two thousand feet away was the outer sites of New York City.

Slowly over time, I was seeing fewer and fewer kraang droids, each one shooting at me, but each time missed, 'Since when was their shot so bad'. I slowed down and began driving the speed limit, not wanting to be pulled over, taking a deep breath, seeing no kraang in sight, I pulled over to the side of the road, and parked the car, taking a deep breath, 'I need to stay calm I can't freak out, not now, not yet'. I turned around, the girls were still sniffling, tears falling down their faces, "It's gonna been alright, we're gonna be okay, I love you girls", I leaned back kissing each one twin on the forehead, "Keep blankets on, it's gonna get a little cold". I pulled the blankets up to their chins, and opened the ice chest, letting Ice Cream Kitty stretch to her full height *Meow*, "Kitty, I need you to watch these two while I drive, okay?", I reached inside the cooler and pulled out a Ziploc of many sliced bananas, "If they get hungry, here. You got it?". *Meow*, she nodded her head, and turned toward the girls, "Good girl", I turned around and turned the AC on low, so it was cold enough for Ice Cream Kitty, but not too cold for the twins. I changed the gear into drive, pulled off the curb, and began driving down the road again.

---------------------------------

~Six Hours Later~

About an hour after stopping I put on my hoodie and took off my crystal, turning back into a turtle, this helped calm the kids down. I needed to make sure they were okay, so I connected my phone to the van and played some songs from their favorite show...Bluey, the songs were kiddish, but it help them call down. I looked up into the rearview mirror and smiled all three were asleep, including Kitty, I turned off the fan, and the van stayed cool, cold enough so Kitty didn't melt.

Driving down the road I no longer saw tall buildings and businesses, instead, I drove down a road surrounded, by trees upon trees, and fields of farmland, it was so beautiful. Driving down the road, there were barely any cars driving by while parking I looked up the area, turns out each house is a quarter a mile apart, and only used when the owners want to get away for a bit, most likely for summer break or any break in general, just to get any and be alone.

"In 500 feet turn left and the destination will be on your right"

"Finally, I haven't driven this longer ever", I continued driving, my speed staying constant, watching the distance of the turn, coming closer and closer. I smiled as I saw the turn not far ahead, but grimaced, noticing it was a dirt road, turning onto the road, the car shook back and forth, I slowed down and looked at the three, smiling when I saw none of them woke up. I drove down the dirt road and stared at the house, driving up I noticed a smooth dirt area and slowed down, parking on the side of the house.

"You have arrived"

I turned off the GPS and leaned back, tired from the long drive, "Not yet, Mikey", I turned around while sliding my phone into my pocket, happy to see the kids still sleeping, I shut the cooler, knowing the inside was going to heat up soon. I jumped out of the car and walked to the front of the house, tears falling down my face as I stared at our new temporary home, just until its safe to go back. I walked up to the door and tugged on the doorknob, but it was locked, I looked around, checking the porch chairs, and the railing, then I picked up the rug, smiling as my eyes saw the key. I picked it up and unlocked the door, pushing it open still standing at the entrance my jaw dropped as I looked inside, it was so beautiful, a little dusty, but so pretty, with walls covered in traditional Japanese art, the living room furnished nicely. I walked around the living room and noticed the kitchen, was decorated the same way, I walked up the stairs and noticed three rooms. I walked into the master bedroom, I couldn't stop looking, it was so beautiful, I smacked my cheek, trying to focus, 'Mikey stop. Bring everything in then stare'.

Leaving the master bedroom open, I ran downstairs and ran toward the van, popping the trunk open, I paused hearing a soft vibrating sound in the car, but I decided to ignore it. I picked up the travel crib and suitcase and dragged them inside, placing the crib and suitcase in the Master bedroom. I continued to carry everything from the trunk into the house, placing all the bags except for the food suitcase inside the master off to the side, and the weapons into one of the spare rooms.

After taking everything, I walked to the passenger door, and opened it, picking mom up in a cradled position, carrying her up to the biggest room, and placing her gently on the bed. I placed my hand on her head, "She's warm, but nothing to worry about, I'll check on you Mom after I'm done, I promise". I ran down the stairway, out the door, and carefully unbuckled each twin, picking them up gently, and letting them rest their head on my chest.

Walking into the master, I place each twin into the cribs, laying them next to each other, and covering them with a small blanket, 'One more'. I walked outside and opened the door, carefully picking up the cooler, and pulling out my key, I locked the door, and walked inside, locking the front door as well. Strolling over to the kitchen, placing the cooler on the counter, and pulling out of the bowl the cat slept in, I opened the freezer and slid her inside.

Sighing as I walked upstairs and walked into the master, I slowly stepped to the side of the bed, looking over my unconscious mom. Tears began to pour down my face as I looked down at my mom, "I'm sorry, mama *hic* I wish *sniff* I was stronger", I sat on the bed, my vision blurred, looking into the crib, staring at the sleeping children, "I wish was a better brother, for you two...".

Chapter Text

POV Mikey:

I looked at the twins, my eyes swollen from the hours upon hours of quietly crying just so I didn't wake the kids, listening to the twins' soft snores fill the room, listening to the gentle breaths of my unconscious mother, laying on the bed motionless. I stood up and walked off to the side, picking up the first aid kit that sat on the edge of the drawer, and walking back to the side of the bed. Grabbing the cleaning wipes, I looked at her head, dried blood covering the side of her face, a bruise forming in a dark purple way, "I'll fix everything, Mom...I promise". After cleaning the wound I saw a large cut on the side of her face, running from the hairline all the down beside her eye. The cut wasn't deep, but it still need attention, I pour all the stuff inside the bag onto the bed looking for anything help, smiling I pulled out some bandaging and this weird tape that was similar to stitches but there was no needle involved, it was called...Steri-strips. I gently pushed the edge of the cut together, starting with one end and moving down until the cut was sealed shut. I placed a white material onto the cut and kept it in place as I wrapped the brown bandage around her head, clipping it into place. Sitting down, I looked down at the sleeping children and rested my head on the edge of the crib, my breath coming out heavy.

I looked at the corner, seeing bags placed in the far corner, waiting to be dealt with. I stood up, stretching my arms as I walked over to the corner, starting off with the bag with mine and the twins' stuff. Pulling the suitcase toward the bed, I picked up the bag and tossed it onto the unused side of the bed. I opened the suitcase and started with the baby side, kneeling down as I opened a small bedside drawer, placing their diapers in the top drawer, then shut it as I placed the last diaper in filling it full. I reached into the suitcase and found a weird package, banged up with the item shoved back into the box, pulling it out I looked at the cover, "Minimonkey: Baby sling for twins?". Turned the box over and placed it on the bed, reading the instructions, pulling it over my head, loosing the straps to fit my shell. Fitting it into place and tightening the straps, I clipped the buckle, and picked up the box, looking at how this worked.

Standing in front of the crib I picked Jennika, gently sliding her into the pouch, keeping her from waking up. I reach down into the crib and picked up Lita, sliding her into the opposite pouch, waking her up into a cuddly mood. "Morning, Sweet pea", kissing the top of her forehead, I continued putting away the twins' stuff.

Finally, after a few minutes, I finished putting away all their stuff and began starting on mine. Folding my clothes in one of the tall dressers, I folded the few shirts I brought, only using them for when I wore my crystal, tossing all the folded clothes into the dressers. Zipping the suitcase shut and dragging it over to the corner, taking Mom's bag over to the bed, putting her clothes away in the other tall dresser, putting more care as I folded her clothes, placing them into the drawer.

*RRRIIINNNGGG* *RRRIIINNNGGG* *RRRIIINNNGGG*

I zipped the suitcase shut, and walked over to the corner, opening my backpack, and searched for my phone, 'Come on I had it the entire drive, where is it-'. In the front pocket, I found my phone and picked it up, dragging the food suitcase downstairs, slamming it onto the kitchen counter, and answering the call.

-------------------------------

Me: "Yo what-"

April⭐: "OH MY GOD, THANK GOD!!!-"

Me: "Whoa, whoa, what's wrong?!"

April⭐: "WHY DIDN'T YOU ANSWER MY LAST TWELVE CALLS?!?!?!"

Me: "April?!-"

April⭐: "HOW ARE THE GIRLS ARE THEY ALRIGHT?!?!?! HOW'S YOUR MOM?!?!"

Me: "..."

April⭐: "...MIKEY?!?!?!"

Me: "...*sniff*"

April⭐: "MIKEY, WHAT-"

Me: "*hic* my mom got hurt..."

Me: "*gasp* *gasp* the girls are fine...Lita's awake and Jennika sleeping, here wait for a second, I'll put you on speaker..."

April⭐: "..."

Me: "Lita, sissy's on the phone say hi..."

Me(Lita): " SISSY!!!"

April⭐: "*Sniff* Hey sweety..."

Me(Lita): "Baba? Sissy?"

Me: "No sweet pea, Sissy is happy"

April⭐: "Hey, how's Jennika?"

Me: "She's sleeping, right now"

Me(Lita): "Baba...ah ah"

Me: "Alright, I'll make you some food"

April⭐: "...Hows your mom"

Me: "She's in the master bedroom, laying down...*sniff*"

April⭐: "..."

Me: "I wasn't fast enough...I got there and she was on the ground"

Me: "...the kraang attacked her and she won't wake up"

Me: "*sniff* She has a cut on her head..."

April⭐: "Was she?..."

Me: "She was attacked by a kraang droid..."

Me: "She was able to take down one, but the other knock her and..."

Me: "I found the droid standing over them, April *gasp*..."

April⭐: "...were they hurt?"

Me: "No...but the girls have grown more attached to me without the crystal, especially Jennika"

Me: "They wouldn't stop crying during the car ride until took off my crystal"

April⭐: "Wait?! You know how to drive!"

Me: "Haha, yeah my mom taught me a little"

Me(Lita): "Babaaa"

Me: "Okay okay"

Me: "Hey I gotta go"

April⭐: "Yeah yeaahhhh, I hear her, call me if you need anything"

Me: "How, I'm six hours from New York"

April⭐: "Whatever man, be safe"

April⭐(???): Hey, April who are you talking to?"

Me: "You too April"

-------------------------------

Placing the phone on the edge of the counter, I opened the suitcase, and put the cans and dry goods away, leaving a package of elbow pasta on the counter. I checked each cabinet and found each one empty, however, one had pots and pans ranging in different styles and sizes. Opening the drawers I found each one full of utensils and wooden spoons, along with a drawer full of a variety of spices.

Looking over the spices I decided to go with a little basic meal for the kids, spaghetti with marinara sauce. I pulled out the medium pot and filled it with water, pouring half of the large bag of noodles into the pot, turning the stove to high heat, and waiting for the water to boil and soften the noodles. Walking over to the pantry, I grabbed a jar of sauce and walked back to the stove, pouring a third of the sauce into the frying pan, and turning the stovetop to medium heat.

After some time, the noodles finally soften enough to eat, bringing the pot over to the sink, and dumping the excess water down the drain. I dumped the noodles into the pan and mixed the noodles with the sauce, adding a little bit of garlic powder and pepper, turning the heat down low.

I walked out of the kitchen and climbed upstairs into the Master bedroom, walking the small bedside table, I opened the bottom drawer and grabbed two baby forks and plates, making my way back to the kitchen. Scooping a small amount onto one of the baby plates, and some on a regular plate, I brought them over to the dining table, placing them side by side.

Looking down as I felt movement noticing Jennika finally waking up, "Hey Honey Bee", yawning, she rubbed her eyes and tried to sit up. I pulled the side of the pouch a little, letting her arm come out as she held onto the edge of my shell watching us eat. I pulled Lita out of the pouch and placed her on my knee, using one of my hands to hold her, making sure she didn't fall off. I placed a fork into Lita's hand and showed her my own, switching her gaze between her fork and mine, confusion covering her face.

"Like this", I stabbed the noodles and brought it up to my face eating a good spoon full, she stared at the plate and awkwardly stabbed a noodle, showing me with a bright smile. "Yes~ now-", motioning with my empty fork, I brought it up to my mouth as she copied me, then continued, eating her food on her own. I tapped the back of her shell, and continued eating my own food, "Baba...", I looked down at Jennika, and chuckled as she opened her mouth reaching for the noodles. Using her fork, I scooped a small amount and brought it up to her mouth, using the few teeth she had, and chewed down the warm food. Using her fork, I scoop some of the noodles and ate them, scooping more, switching between the two of us.

"Baba", I looked down at Lita and noticed she finished her place with her face covered in sauce, "Heh, are you still hungry", nodding her head, I picked her up and placed her on the table, "Stay here, I'll get you more", she nodded and smiled, raising her fork. I picked up her plate and scooped another bit onto her plate, the same amount as last time, leaving the last portion for Jennika. I walked back over to the table and stopped, "Stop eating my food you little stinker", Lita laughed shoving the noodles that were on her fork into her mouth, dirtying her face even more. "Here, now eat Lita", she giggled and continued eating, from her plate this time.

As Lita finished eating, she began climbing off my knee and landed on her butt, "Oh you good, Lita?".

"Ah ha!", standing up to her feet, she ran around the house and looked at the living room, "Ay get back here and wash your face", running back she grabbed the towel, cleaned off her face, "Baba?". Looking at her face, noticing no more stains, "Good", I began pulling Jennika out of the pouch but stopped as she began whining, holding a tight grip on the pouch. "You want to stay?", she nodded her head, and whined into my shell, hiding her face, "Alright...are you still hungry for pasta?", holding up the fork to her cheek, causing her to instantly turn her head, eating the spoon full of noodles.

After some time, Jennika finally finished eating all the pasta, even the amount left in the pan, I wiped off her face, smearing all the sauce onto the paper towel. "Baba! Baba!", I picked up the plates and brought them over to the sink, filling it up with hot water, "Baba!". I turned as Lita grabbed my hand, tugging me off to her new discovery, "What did you find Sweet Pea?", she giggled, continuing to pull me, until I stopped in front of a closet, with the door barely opened.

"Ahh! Ahh! Ahh!", she let go of my hand, let me stand up to my full height, and pointed at the closet, excitement filling her while confusion was all I felt. Opening the door, Lita bounced up and down, I froze and stared into the dark room, flicking the switch on to see the closet full of art materials, pencils, paint, paint brushes, clay, glue, crayons, coloring books, sketchbooks, and many different size canvases. "What the-, Lita how did you find this?".

She past me and started reaching for the crayons, I grabbed one of the coloring books, noticing most of them were actually a bunch of cross puzzle books, each page already filled out from previous visitors. Picking up Lita, and placing her back in the pouch, "Baba?", she sounded pointing at the crayons.

"Yes, I know. I'll get it, first I need to carry you up the stairs, okay?", smiling she nodded her head, and let me put her in the pouch, securing in, and letting her arms out, I reached toward the middle shelf and grabbed two sketchbooks and box of crayons. Turning around I closed the door behind me and walked toward the kitchen, picking up a clean towel, and walking up the stairs.

Stepping into the spare room, and seeing the weapons laying lazily on top of the bed, I pulled Lita out of the pouch closing the door behind me. I placed the sketchbook in front of Lita and poured the crayons on the floor, leaving them within reach, "Honey bee, do you want to draw?". Jennika looked at Lita, switching her gaze between me and Lita, "You wanna watch a show from when I was younger?", with a bright smile she nodded her head.

Placing her on the ground in front of another sketchbook, I turned on my phone and placed it in front of them, my phone playing Power Rangers. Lita continued to draw, using many different colors, not interested in the show, while Jennika ignored the sketchbook, staring deeply at the screen, staying only a foot away from me.

I walked over to the bed and picked up each weapon, wiping the towel over the blade, and cleaning it free of dirt and dust. Every day Mom would take time to clean each one a day, one at a time, then clean the blade and the wooden bit, keeping each weapon looking brand new. I wanted to keep up her work, taking them out of their designed holster, cleaning each weapon, putting the sleeve back on, placing them next to each other, laying them gently on top of the sheets, and filling the empty places with the smaller weapons. I picked up the last weapon, and stared at it, the old nunchucks I've had since I was five years old, using the rag to clean the handles off, placing them gently on the nightstand.

"I'll be right back girls I want to go check on Mom", opening the door, I heard soft tapping speed towards me before something touched my thigh. I looked down and smiled, Jennika walked next to me, holding onto my leg while watching the show. I slowed down my paced and pushed open the door, walking to the right side of the bed, and standing over her. I checked her temperature and placed my hand on her forehead, "She's a little warm, I'll turn the fan on for a bit".

"Mama. Seepy?", Jennika held onto my leg as she stared at our mom laying motionless in bed, her breathing was slow and so was her heart rate. "Yes, Honey...mama's sleeping", guilt filled me as I stared at her, tears flowing down my face, falling down to hug my knees, teardrops streaming onto my legs down my scales. I flinched as I felt something wrapped around my arm, and looked down to see Jennika hugging my arm, I smiled and hugged Jennika, hugging her tightly as I started calming down, "Hey, how about we go outside and draw some more, hm?". She looked up at the bed and grabbed the phone from the bed, using both of her hands, holding it up to me with the biggest smile, "Ah?".

"Of course, you can", I picked her up sliding her back in the sling, leaving her arms out so she can hold onto the phone. I walked over to the corner, picked up my backpack from the far corner, and pulled the books out, placing them gently on top of my drawers, and leaving my sketchbook in my bag.

I walked over to the spare room and pushed the door open, happy to see Lita still drawing to her heart's content. Walking over to the bed, I picked up my nunchucks and put them in the front pocket, grabbing the kamas and holster strapping each one to my legs. "Alright-", I turned around and clapped my hands, getting Lita's attention, "Lita, what do you think about going outside and having some fun?". Gasping as she picked up the sketchbook, running up to me slamming it against my legs, "Baba?!".

"Yeah, now come on, up you go-", picking her up and sliding her into the sling, strapping her into place. I reached down and picked up their sketchbooks and crayons, bringing Jennika's as well. Closing the door behind me, I walked down the stairs with a bounce in my step, ready to go out, picking up the key for the house, putting it onto my lanyard, making sure to never lose it, "Ready to go out, girls?!".

"Ahhh!!!"

"Ahhh!!!"

"Alright, here we go!", I pushed the door and locked it behind me, taking in the warm summer air, and walked down the steps. I gazed at the field that grew with a path that lead straight to the forest ahead, full of tall fully grown wheat, ready to be harvested, traveling down the path, I grazed my hands along the tall grains, breathing the fresh air. I stood at the entrance of the tall wall of trees and walked inside the new environment, I laughed as Lita look around, staring at the trees and the wheat field.

Lita continued to look around, begging me to let her out as I walked deeper into the forest, "Babaaaa".

"Heh Lita, just a little farther then, you can get out ok?", she continued to whine, I groaned and walked, but stopped, finding a large open space to chill in, "Alright, Lita here you go~". Pulling her out, she jumped out of my hands, falling right onto her face, "Oh my-", she quickly stood up and ran around, raising her hands, running in circles, "Ahhhh!". I pulled out Jennika and placed her by the tree, pulling out the sketchbooks and crayons, and laying them next to Jennika, "But stay where I can see Lita!". I walked to the center of the empty area, and pulled out my kamas, holding them up and closing my eyes as I took a deep breath, loving the smell of fresh air, no pollution, no smog, just clean air.

I ran forward toward a tree, and slide my blade through the air, flipping back, sprinting off to the side, but stopped, looking around as I heard a stick snap, echoing across the forest, loud enough to be nearby. Looking around I noticed no one walking around, and sprinted toward and picked up Lita, "Baba-".

"Shhh, someone is nearby", I placed her over my shoulder, sprinting toward Jennika placing them next to each other, hushing the two. I looked around and listened carefully, turning my head toward a snap, I sprinted toward the noise, hiding behind the tree. Tightening my grip on the handle I ran around the tree pointing my kama at the mysterious figure.

"Mikey?!"

"April?!"

Chapter Text

~Seven Hours Ago~

POV April:

I ran down the long street, running from the kraang army that chased after us and was right on our tail, I pulled my dad toward his old van, "Come on Dad, we're almost there-".

"AHHHHHHHHHHH!", I quickly turned around as terror filled my body as my father turned into a kraang creature, tentacles sprouting all over his body, multiple eyeballs coming from random parts of his head, his painful screams echoing as his limbs changed into something ugly. My infected father grabbed me by the arm, tugging me to somewhere away from the needed van, "Dad, what's wrong- ow, let go!". I flinched as I felt another hand grabbing me by my free arm, pulling me away from him. Donnie dragged me toward the van, and pulled me with him, "Donnie! We need to go back for my dad, please!". He ignored me and placed me in the front seat, slamming the door shut, tears fell down my eyes as Casey jumped into the front seat and started up the engine waiting for everyone to jump inside, everyone...but my father, "Casey, we need to go save my dad!-"

"April, we can't, I'm sorry, but we need to leave, if we stay any longer will all turn into whatever hell your father is-", Raph yelled holding Leo, lying unconscious on his lap, Raph smacked the driver seat multiple times before he made the orders, "Casey drive!". I flipped around and watched my dad stand still in the middle of the street, standing with a slouch in his posture, "April, I promise I'll make a retro mutagen to turn him back", Donnie's words barely louder than a whisper as I turned around, and grabbed Casey phone, punching in the address to my childhood home, "We can stay here for the time being...it's a farmhouse six hours from here...the house is always empty", my words were spoken sounding empty with no emotion as Casey nodded his headed and listened to the GPS, pulling out my phone, and plugging in my earbuds, listening to my music, rubbing my face clear of tears.

Listening to my soft music, I watched as each building passed by, different apartments, businesses, and...Mikey's home. There stood the dojo, the building stood tall no damage aside from the chaos surrounding it. Anxiety and fear filled me as I continued to stare at the building seeing no sign of life near it, I opened my contact and dialed his number, listening to the soft ringing, only for it to go straight to voice mail, the tears that dried out, began pouring over again, I called him again listening for the signal that he answered, but that never came. My breath became uneven as I called him again, "Come on please answer", flinching at the feel of something touching my shoulder, I looked toward the touch, it was Casey. He rubbed his thumb over my shoulder, keeping his eyes on the road, leaving the city behind, "You know he's not going to answer, right?". Even though Casey was talking about my father, the thought of Mikey's mom and sister hurt made my chest feel tight, I pulled my knees to my chest and sobbed into my knees.

Turning my body toward the window, I stared at the photo Mikey sent me, Lita chewing on the baby treats and Jennika sticking her tongue out with drooling pooling down her chin. "Please be okay...", my words so soft as I pulled the photo close to my chest, silently wishing they were all fine as I fell asleep with my phone close to my chest.

~Six Hours Later~

I woke up to the sound of the GPS alerting us of the directions, Casey nudging me awake, "We're almost there, Red", nodding my head I sat up, rubbing the sleepiness away from my eyes. I turned around to look at the others, Donnie next to Raph fast asleep, leaning onto his shoulder, while Raph was wide awake, holding Leo while he stared at the floor of the van, completely zoning out.

"In 500 feet turn left and the destination will be on your right"

I looked down at my lap and turned on my phone, showing the last thing I saw, the girls looking so happy...so safe. I dialed Mikey again, pulling the phone close to my ear, and watching the trees pass by as Casey drove down the open road. Voicemail...I dialed again waiting for Mikey to answer but he still didn't. Was he safe, did he get out of there, I continued to call him, but each time was the same result, no answer. Casey turned down the road, turning onto our dirt pavement, reaching over to comfort me again, rubbing my shoulder, "Red...he's not going to answer-"

"Yes, he will. I don't care what you say, I need to make sure he's okay", I shoved his hand off my shoulder, and continued to call Mikey for the tenth time, but he still didn't answer. I pulled my phone away from my ear as the van came to a stop, parking right next to the house, near the barn. We didn't bring much, most of the materials we brought were necessities, clothes, weapons, money, and some of Donnie's lab equipment. I hopped out of the van and called Mikey, walking up to the house, I flipped up the mat, happy to see the key left in the same place. I picked up the key and pushed open the door, walking in with everyone on my tail, "Bathroom is upstairs and downstairs, there's two bedrooms, I don't care which room you choose, but I get my own". I walked back outside and sat on the swing, dialing Mikey's number, but he still didn't answer, "Oh Mikey please be alright", I dialed one last time, listening to the soft ringing that suddenly stopped not by a voicemail...but a voice.

----------------------------------

Mikey🍕: "Yo what-"

Me: "OH MY GOD, THANK GOD!!!-"

Mikey🍕: "Whoa, whoa, what's wrong?!"

Me: "WHY DIDN'T YOU ANSWER MY LAST TWELVE CALLS?!?!?!"

Mikey🍕: "April?!-"

Me: "HOW ARE THE GIRLS ARE THEY ALRIGHT?!?!?! HOW'S YOUR MOM?!?!"

Mikey🍕: "..."

Me: "...MIKEY?!?!?!"

Mikey🍕: "...*sniff*"

Me: "MIKEY, WHAT-"

Mikey🍕: "*hic* my mom got hurt..."

Mikey🍕: "*gasp* *gasp* the girls are fine...Lita's awake and Jennika sleeping, here wait for a second, I'll put you on speaker..."

Me: "..."

Mikey🍕: "Lita, sissy's on the phone say hi..."

Mikey🍕(Lita): "SISSY!!!"

Me: "*Sniff* Hey sweety..."

Mikey🍕(Lita): "Baba? Sissy?"

Mikey🍕: "No sweet pea, Sissy is happy"

Me: "Hey, how's Jennika?"

Mikey🍕: "She's sleeping, right now"

Mikey🍕(Lita): "Baba...ah ah"

Mikey🍕: "Alright, I'll make you some food"

Me: "...Hows your mom"

Mikey🍕: "She's in the master bedroom, laying down...*sniff*"

Me: "..."

Mikey🍕: "I wasn't fast enough...I got there and she was on the ground"

Mikey🍕: "...the kraang attacked her and she won't wake up"

Mikey🍕: "*sniff* She has a cut on her head..."

Me: "Was she?..."

Mikey🍕: "She was attacked by a kraang droid..."

Mikey🍕: "She was able to take down one, but the other knock her and..."

Mikey🍕: "I found the droid standing over them, April *gasp*..."

Me: "...were they hurt?"

Mikey🍕: "No...but the girls have grown more attached to me without the crystal, especially Jennika"

Mikey🍕: "They wouldn't stop crying during the car ride until took off my crystal"

Me: "Wait?! You know how to drive!"

Me: "Haha, yeah my mom taught me a little"

Mikey🍕(Lita): "Babaaa"

Mikey🍕: "Okay okay"

Mikey🍕: "Hey I gotta go"

Me: "Yeah yeaahhhh, I hear her, call me if you need anything"

Mikey🍕: "How I'm six hours from New York"

Me: "Whatever man, be safe"

Me(Donnie): Hey, April who are you talking to?-"

Mikey🍕: "You too April"

----------------------------------

Mikey hung up before I could say bye, "April who were you talking to?", I turned around to see Donnie standing near the bench holding a lot of his equipment, his hands full of the different materials he needed. "Oh just one of my classmates, I was worried about them and their family, but thankfully they're safe", I smiled and stood up, dusting my knees off, getting rid of the dirt and dust. "Hey, Donnie, I'm gonna go on a walk for a bit, can you let the others know, I just need a breather from all the stress". Donnie walked up next to me, and rubbed the back of his next finding the bench more interesting, "If you want I can come with you?", I shook my head and shoved my phone into my pocket, "No I'm good, I need some time to myself". Turning toward the forest I pulled out my phone again and plugged my earbuds in, playing the last song I played during the quiet drive.

~W.I.T.C.H. by Devon Cole~

Stepping into the long-forgotten forest, I looked around at the scenery and scanned the trees, listening to the soft wind passing through the Longleaf Pines. I followed the path I took as a kid, the path I took with my dad ever since my mom passed away, I thought back to the directions I took as a kid,  I walked east for about half a mile until I came up on a small stream, surrounded by small smooth stones, the stream wasn't deep, probably just half a foot and there was barely any current, it was nice, something to sit by to just relax, and take a moment to sit still and smell the roses in a sense.

I continued to walk down the calm path, noticing the stream not far ahead, quickening my pace, and stood near the stream that sat exactly where I remembered, only now it was a foot deeper, the current still as slow. Pulling out my phone I took a selfie of myself with the slow stream, sending the picture straight to Mikey, messaging him a small text, "Found a stream from when I was a kid, the girls would love it". Jumping over the stream, I continued to explore the forest, only ever stopping there as a kid, going right back after I was done, the forest was the same on the other side. Even though the stream was not manmade, it perfectly lined the border between the farmhouse and our neighbor, the farmhouses here were mainly used to stay during summer vacation or as permanent homes for the retired, and since it was school time, a lot of our neighbors aren't home.

I walked down the unexplored path, having no destination, just out, noticing a large stick, I picked it up, and swung the stick around, hitting the thunk of the trees I walked by, tapping the stick on the ground, and drawing long lines into the packed dirt, pretending to be blind, and tripped over a root, catching myself before I fell.

*Snap*

Looking down at my feet I noticed a small twig, and shrugged my shoulders, chucking the large stick behind, pausing as I saw a wide opening in the middle of the forest. I walked toward the opening, taking in the scenery, that was until someone jumped out from behind a tree, aiming a blade toward my neck, wait a second, "Mikey?!".

"April?!", Mikey pulled his weapon away, dropping both to the ground, "Wait?! How are you here?!-",

"Sissy!", Lita slowly walked out from behind Mikey, and grabbed my leg, using me for support, "Hey, Lita~, Mikey, what are you doing here?"

"I'm staying at my mom's farmhouse just a few minutes that way", pointing east toward the neighboring house, "You?", looking down I noticed Lita reaching up for me, making the grabby motion, bending over I picked her up, pulling her close to me, giving her a small peck on her forehead, "I have a farmhouse a mile west, which makes us neighbors", my tone happy as I spoke those words, scratching small circles into Lita's back, listening to her soft purring. I walked back over to the opening and stood near Jennika, whose gaze never left Mikey's phone, I watched as Mikey walked back to the center of the opening and began to dance silently, swinging his blade around, fighting off invisible enemies, dashing forward and back, from side to side, his fighting style looked so beautiful to watch.

Nothing like when he was with his old family, he always seemed so stiff and uncomfortable, but now he seemed so free, fighting and training his own way, "Hey Mikey!". My words stopped his training as he looked my way, his breathing heavy but he never broke a sweat, "I found a small stream nearby, how 'bout we go there so the girls can play in the water, but if you do can I borrow some shorts-", Lita pushed away from me, causing me to place her on the ground, watching her clumsily run toward Mikey, grabbing Mikey's leg for support, "Baba! Baba!".

"What you wanna go see the water?", I chuckled as Lita nodded aggressively, Mikey turned toward Jennika who continued to stare at the show, "Honey bee!". Jennika finally looked up at me and ran toward Mikey, hiding right behind his leg. "Jennika, it's okay, look-", he picked her up and held her on his hip, chuckling as she rested her head on his shoulder growling at April, "Honey bee, it's sissy!". Jennika still kept her head on Mikey's shoulder but her growling stopped instead she glared at me, "Honey, you wanna swim?!", after a few moments Jennika finally nodded her head. "Alright! Let's go!"

----------------------------------

I walked back down the path I came, carrying Lita on my shoulders, feeling her play with my hair, "Just a little farther guys", I turned to the side and watched Mikey carry Jennika in the sling, watching the show perfectly so Jennika could watch as well, "What are you guys watching?", Mikey looked up from his phone, I could almost see stars in them, "Just the coolest show ever! Power Rangers in space!". I looked ahead listening to Mikey talk about the show, seeing the stream not far ahead, "My favorite ranger has to be yellow, she's so cool and her blaster is so awesome, but blue is cool too with his awesome ax thing. Oh, and it's always cool watching them defeat villains like Ecliptor and Astronema, watching them win, oh my god-", I smiled listening to Mikey ramble on about his show, I stopped and stared at the stream, kicking my shoes off, dipping my feet into the cool water. I picked Lita off my shoulders and sat her beside me, watching her smack the water, making small splashes, wetting my calves. Mikey pulled Jennika out of the sling, and tug the pouch off of himself, placing it off to the side. I watched as he instead of sitting next to me on the edge of the stream, sat directly in the middle of it, sitting in the deepest part, which I guess wasn't even that deep. He sat Jennika on his lap, letting her play in the shin-deep waters, "Hey Mikey, how long can you hold your breath underwater?".

"About thirty minutes last time I checked", he looked down at Jennika, who smile the brightest I'd seen all day, giggling as she fell out of his hold straight to the water, I leaned over to grab her only for Mikey to stop me as she quickly came out of the water holding onto his knees, giggling even harder. Lita crawled into the water after Jennika, pulling me by my finger, "Sissy! Sissy!", deciding to make Lita happy I got went deeper into the water, thankful for Mikey for having some extra shorts and a tank top, leaving the clothes I wore in Mikey's bag. I sat a few inches in front of Mikey, "Don't worry I brought a few towels just in case" I smiled and nodded my head, watching little Lita swim between Mikey and me, pulling Jennika where she swam, "Dang, could you swim this well at their age".

"Oh yeah, if I remember correctly I think I was the fastest swimmer and runner, but I couldn't hold my breath the longest I was third best", he looked down, sprinkling water over Jennika's head, causing her to make a sort of giggle mixed with her turtle chirps, making the cutest noise, "I'm glad they got to enjoy swimming, it's really hard to help Jennika relax without a screen or being super close nearby". I nodded to Mikey's words agreeing that this was not only helpful but needed for the girls, Jennika pushed off of Mikey and grabbed my knee, chirping at her twin sister, she turned around to see me and swam away straight for Mikey, Lita stopped her and pulled her toward me, making quiet chirping noise as she pulled herself and Jennika into my lap. I was stunned watching them move onto my lap, Jennika seem hesitant and tried to pull away from Lita's hold, "Sissy!", Lita pointed at me staring at her sister, causing Jennika to shake her head, she turned around looking at Mikey for help. "Alright sweet pea, Jenny's not ready for sissy yet, okay?", Lita nodded and let go of Jennika, bumping her nose into her sister's forehead, to which Jennika returned the action. 

"Good girl!", Lita smiled hearing the praise, and swam near Mikey, reaching up to him, in great interest I watched as she bumped her nose onto Mikey's snout as well, causing her tail to wag quickly. "Hey can I ask you something?", Mikey placed her back into the water, "What was that?", Lita turned around and swam toward me, reaching up to me as she did to Mikey, "Just pick her up and close to your face". Gently picking Lita up from the water, I leaned back and brought her close to my face, resting her body on my chest. Lita lean forward to my head and rub her snout on my nose, giggling happily as she continued, "I heard from somewhere that turtles do that to show affection to others like friends or something, but I don't remember who, but I do remember doing it to one person, I think it was my parent, but I'm not sure...".

Placing Lita back in the water, I watched as she went under and swam toward Jennika slowly, swimming closer and closer until she was in front of her, Jennika stared at her and made confused chirping noises, until Lita leaped out of the water, barely scaring Jennika, but she did growling and jumped after Lita, splashing large gushes of water into each others' faces.

I laughed at their playful actions as I remembered doing the same exact thing with my dad, "Hey April?", I hummed to his words, letting him know I was listening as I shut my eyes listening to the soft sounds of nature, "I was wondering since we're neighbors, what do you think about coming over once a week, to just hang out with me and the girls?". I heard splashing as something small touched my knee, looking down to se both Lita and Jennika staring at me, Lita with a big smile, climbed into my lap, leaning against my chest as her tail wagged, I smiled down at the both, scratching small circles into Lita's shell, "Sure...why not".

Chapter Text

~Three Months Later~

POV Mikey:

'It has been...three...whole...months. And I dont know what to do...

I've been trying to fix all my family's issues, and I've been doing my best. A couple of months ago, Lita has been having trouble seeing things, specifically seeing stuff up close, she's been having trouble drawing and watching shows on my phone. However, I didn't notice until sometime two months ago, I looked around the house, searching every inch, even the barn. In one of the spare rooms, there were a pair of reading glasses, left behind in the bedside drawer. And in the barn was a pair of safety glasses and some rubber bands. Using the materials I found and some super glue from the closet, which finally turned the materials into her new pair of glasses. When I put them on her, it took a couple of moments, then she fell in love with them. I was able to fix her issue but for my mom...

Mom hasn't woken up yet, I have been cleaning her wound, but I can't keep lying to the girls. Almost every week one of them asks me when our mom will wake up...I've been debating whether or not to tell them, but they're so young...would they even understand. All I know is that I must keep the girls safe, keep them healthy...just until Mom wakes up.

About a month ago, we had been running low on food, so I did the only thing I knew that would make the food last longer...I have been rationing the food for myself, a small meal three times a week, saving the rice as a last-ditch effort if I get too hungry. However, for the girls, I've been giving them their normal servings, feeding them whenever they're hungry...Lita has a big appetite for her age, she eats way more than Jennika.

And Jennika no matter how hard I try will never leave my side, she's the most comfortable inside the baby sling, never wanting to leave unless she watches Power Rangers, and once the phone dies, she cries, wanting me to hold her constantly.

Having her occupied helps a lot, every free moment I get I clean the house, dust the weapons, dust the house, and take care of our mom. Or taking the kids outside, distracting them with some kind of thing, and train outside. I train every single day for almost an hour, or just until Jennika runs up to me, wanting to be held.

Every single night, Jennika wakes up crying calling for me, she sounds so terrified...she gets nightmares every night, and she clings to me too scared to sleep by herself... she's too terrified to be alone, but she does even feel kinda comfortable with me with the crystal on, she mostly wants turtle me. And because of her nightmares every night, I never sleep, three hours at night, unless she's with me during the night, then she sleeps with full eight hours, and no naps during the day, whenever I fall asleep during the day, she wakes me up crying, I don't know why she babbles, but even if I tell her it's okay, she tightly clings onto to me, not letting me go.

And the only way I get to take a nap is when Jennika is sleeping or when I hang out with April. We meet in the same spot once a week, and hang out for an hour or two, or just until someone calls her asking where she is. During those hangouts, we talk about random stuff, whether that's about my mom, her dad, the kids, or each other, or if I'm too tired to talk I take a nap, while April plays with the twins.

With every meet-up, Jennika has gotten more used to April, becoming more and more comfortable with April being near her and playing with her, but she still won't let April hold her. I'm so glad...Jennika starting to trust her...'.

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I stood in front of the sink and stared at the dishes, rinsing each one, and running the plate underneath the hot water, my eyes grew heavy as I started asleep, "Baba?".

"Hey, Sweat pea, I'm fine", rubbing my eyes and splashing my face with water as I finished off the last plate, shoving it into the dishwasher, and using it as a drying rack. I walked over to the couch and fell lazily into the cushion, leaning my head against the back of the couch, "Baba?", she said holding up her plate. Shook my head, and kept my eyes closed, "No, I'm good, I already ate", taking a deep breath, I rose to my feet walking upstairs, "Baba!", I turned around seeing Jennika holding up her arms, with the phone left behind on the side table, most likely the phone died.

"Alright, honey", I picked her up and slipped her into the sling, walking over to the side table, picking up my phone, and walking up the stairs to our shared room, the master bedroom. Walking over to my side of the bed, I plugged in my phone, a sound signaled me letting me know the phone was plugged in completely. I looked at Mom and smelt a weird odor, "Mamaaa", Jennika covered her snout and hid behind me. I laughed as she backed away from our smelly mom and I noticed the master bathroom just a few feet away, "That's cause Mama needs a bath", I bent over, and sniffed the top of Jennika's head, "Oof! And so do you".

I walked over to the master bathroom, turned on the faucet, and placed the plug into the drain, filling it with warm water, and pulling out a few clean towels, "And I guess I can bathe your other sister too".

Walking down the stairs and noticed Lita's plate still on the table as she lay down on her belly in the living room with sauce still covering her face, "Hey, sweat pea, it's time for a bath".

"Noooo!!!", I picked her up before she could run off, "Hey if you let me bathe you we can see April". She finally calmed down and let me carry her. Walking upstairs, I pushed the bedroom door open, and turned off the faucet, placing the twins right next to each other by the bathtub, "You too stay here, I'll be back". I turned around and walked over to moms drawer picking out some fresh clothes for her to change into as well as something to bathe, pulling out some clean pajamas and undergarments. And pulling out a black tank top and shorts, I placed them on the bed, near where I can reach them, and changed her into the clothes, leaving her freshly changed on the bed.

Opening the drawer, I grabbed their bathing toothbrush, and walked back into the bathroom, closing the door behind me, "Alright, in the tub we go", I picked up the twins and placed them in the shallow water mixed with a few bubbles, pulling off Lita's homemade glasses, I picked up the toothbrush and started their bathtime routine, starting off with Lita.

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After twenty minutes I finally finished bathing the twins, putting on clean diapers and wrapping them tightly in towels, and putting Lita's glasses back on, only for her to push out of the towel and ran downstairs, "Be careful Lita!", while Jennika fell asleep, leaning against the cabinet door. I looked at the tub as it was draining the dirty bath water, and stood up walked over to Mom, picked her up, and carried her off to the bathroom, sitting her up against the edge of the tub, gently leaning her head against the tub. Reaching for the end of the tub, I picked up the plastic cup, shampoo, and conditioner.

I scooped the water into the cup and poured it down her head, wetting her hair thoroughly, I grabbed the shampoo, squirting a small amount into my hand. I scrubbed her hair, scratching her head, so the bubbles deeply clean her hair, and rinsed her hair, washing all the bubbles out of her hair. Picking up the conditioner, I placed some in my hand and massaged it into her tail, pouring more water until it was rinsed out, and began filling the bathtub with fresh warm water.

"Alright, now a bath, then I'll take a shower", picking her up I placed her into the tub and grabbed a wash cloth and body wash, squirting some into the cloth, dunking it into the water. I wiped down her arms and legs, as well as cleaned her neck and back, rinsing her clean of soap. I picked her up and placed her on the floor, using the extra towel to dry her off and get her ready to go back to bed.

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Stepping out of the shower, I grabbed the towel, drying off my skin as I walk out of the bathroom, drying the top of my head, tossing my towel with the rest of the dirty clothes, I walked over to the crib seeing Jennika's sleeping form. I turned around and adjusted the towel wrapped around Mom's wet hair. Dragging my feet over to the corner, I picked up my phone and backpack, stashing diapers, snacks, blankets, and utensils, and zipping the bag shut. Putting my baby sling back on, leaving the straps loose, I grabbed my crystal and put it around my neck, and tightened the straps to fit way better. I walked over to the crib and picked up Jennika, sliding her into the sling, and throwing the bag over my shoulder, I walked downstairs, my feet dragging across the wood, and my eyes grew heavier every passing minute.

I grabbed their sketchbooks and crayons throwing them into the bag, "Nooo!", I picked her up and searched for my keys, "Oh calm down, you'll get it back soon". Grabbing my layard off the counter, walking out the door, and locking it behind me, I walked toward the van, and opened the side door, placing Lita in her car seat. I walked to the other side of the van, and buckled in Jennika, making sure she was in tight.

Sitting down in the front seat, I took out my phone and entered the address, waiting for the directions to load, starting up the car. Backing up the van, I turned down the dirt road and looked both ways before I turned onto the open road.

'Thankfully, the first day coming out to the farmhouse, we've been talking and somehow got to the subject of where we're living t, and turns out we live right next to each other. She told me, she escaped the same day I left New York and came down with a few other people, even Casey, and I guess one of them went into a coma and woke up just a month ago...I wish I was that lucky...I wish mom would wake you soon...'.

Turning onto the entrance, I smiled as I saw April's home, and pulled off to the side, parking a little far from the house, turning off the van. I pulled out the keys and jumped out of the car, walking off to the side of the van, opening the door. I unbuckled Lita's seat belt and placed her on the ground, walking off to the other side, grabbing Jennika, and placing her inside the sling, "Mikey?! What the heck are you doing here?!", turning around I smiled and shut the van door, "Hey, April...".

"Mikey! You can't be here!", I sighed and leaned against the van, "Can you please watch them for like an hour, I'm really tired-".

"Mikey, when was the last time you slept...?", I groaned and rubbed the back of my head trying to think when the last time I actually slept, watching April pick up Lita who snuggled up to her, "Uhhh...two days ago...".

"Mikey! Ughhh...come inside, your lucky, Casey always stays and sleeps in the barn, and the others are on a week-long training trip", I nodded and dragged my feet across the dirt, stepping inside the house, "I'll just sleep on the couch if that's alright-".

"No, you promised you wouldn't wear that crystal constantly, just give me Jennika, and go in my room, it's the master, take a nap, actually sleep for as long as you need, but no drooling". I smiled, and handed Jennika over to her, keeping the sling on me, "When Jennika wakes up, give her my phone so she can watch power rangers, she stays calm if you do that, and here's my backpack, everything you need is inside". She nodded her head and carried Jennika, swaying back and forth, I turned around and walked upstairs, pushing the door open, and closing the door behind me. I pulled off the crystal, slid it into the bedside drawer, and fell on the bed, pulling the blankets over my head, and quickly fell asleep as soon as my body relaxed.

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~Nineteen Hours Later~

POV April:

I rolled the eggs, and turned them into an omelet, plating each one for the kids and one for myself, walking over to the dining room, I placed the food on the table as Jennika walked down the stairs and walked up to me, tapping my leg. "What's wrong, Jenny?", she never looked at me, and hugged my leg, rubbing her snout against my leg, trying to show me affection, "Baba okay?...", picking her up, I sat down on my leg and handed her a fork, grabbing my own. "Yes, he is alright, he just hasn't been sleeping, so he needs to sleep for a bit", I smiled loving that Jennika was confiding in me to comfort her when Mikey isn't around, "Baba seepy like Mama". I froze staring at her as she stabbed her eggs, trying to eat the large food, "No, no, he's just tired from taking care of you two all day by himself, isn't he strong?", she nodded her head, leaning into my chest, "It's alright, I promise he'll wake up soon".

I cut up some of her eggs and tapped Jennika's shell, getting her attention, "Now...how about you eat your eggs, and then you can watch Power Rangers". She smiled and began shoveling the food into her mouth, I laughed and began eating my food as Lita jumped into the chair next to me, raising her fork above her head, "Sissy!". I pushed the plate in front of her as she stood on the chair reaching for the food, I began cutting up the food into small bits, easier for her to eat. I continued to eat my eggs and held Jennika up as she slowly ate her food, unlike her sister.

"Yoooo, what's that smell, yum!-", Casey stopped and stared at the twins, sitting at the table eating fresh eggs, "Wh-...Where did you get these baby turtles...? And why does that one have weird safety glasses", I switched my gaze between the twins and Casey thinking of an excuse for him, Jennika looked up at me, no longer eating her food and hugged me tightly, growling and hissing at Casey, "Uhh-"

"Sissy-", I turned toward Lita as she pointed at Casey, eggs covering her face somehow, "Hobo!", I looked at her shocked, and covered my mouth, laughing quietly, "Wha, I'm not a hobo!". Calming down my laughing, "Lita be nice, and Casey, our classmate Mikey, these two are his, he came over and asked me to watch them for a bit-".

"Is that where you've been going for the past three months", I groaned, rubbing Jennika's shell as she continued growling at him, squeezing me tighter, "Yes, I've been taking care of you these girls-".

"And what, he can't take care of them by himself with his mom?!", Jennika stopped growling and began sniffling as Casey talked about their mother and was now standing closer than before, I grabbed Casey by the shirt, feeling rage fill every bone in my body, "Go in the kitchen, your scaring her", I walked over to the living room and wrapped a blanket around her, handing her Mikey's phone to watch her show, pressing my nose against her cheek, "I'll be right, I just need to talk to that scary man, okay?", she nodded her head and stared at the screen.

I turned around and walked over to Casey, glaring at him, standing a foot in front of him, "What the heck is wrong with you?!", my tone just louder than a whisper, "Me?!".

"Yes, you! I thought you were cool with Mikey, I thought you were close", he groaned and rubbed his eyes, pinching the bridge of his nose, "Well, I am-".

"Then why did you say that...do you know what Mikey has been going through for the past three months", I walked closer and glared at him, shoving my finger into his chest, "He has been taking care of these two. By. Him. Self. You want to know why", my tone barely above a whisper pulling my finger back, I crossed my arms still glaring, "His mom has been in a coma for three months", Casey's face became full of guilt as he looked down at the ground, "Yeah, so not only is he taking care of these two, he's taking care of his mom. A month ago he told me that he has been running out of food for a month, so he has been basically starving himself to keep them healthy, and stays up every single night, taking care of poor Jennika, who has been waking up every single night with nightmares, Mikey barely gets any sleep from his own nightmares, plus he barely ever eats. And when he finishes taking care of them, he takes care of his mom's stuff, cleaning her weapons every day, and trains every day for as long as he can...so screw me, if I care about my friend...way more than you care about him, Casey...".

I turned around and froze, seeing Lita right behind me, holding up her plate, "Sissy! More!", smiling I picked up the plate and scooped the last omelet onto her plate, placing it back in her hands. She switched her gaze between me and Casey, before looking at the plate, back to me, "Baba seepy like Mama?". I stood up covering my mouth, shock filled me as I stared at her, "No no, he's gonna wake up soon, he's just really tired". She looked at me and walked back over to the table.

"Hey, April...", I looked back at Casey who didn't meet my gaze, "I'm sorry for acting like that, I just...I was worried, and confused why you were disappearing every week", I sighed and pat his shoulder, "It's alright man".

"Sissy!!!", I turned around and ran into the living room, frozen in my place as I saw the other three standing by the living room, Leo wearing no mask and holding Lita in his arms, who held his mask above her head, "April?-"

"Sissy! Baba! Baba", froze in place as Lita pointed at Leo, I turned toward Jennika who sat in the living room, staring at the three of them, growling but mostly shaking terribly, "April, who are these kids, and what do they mean?", I looked at the three and slowly walked up to Jennika, as tears starting to form in her eyes, "April!-"

"Shut up guys, your scaring her!", and at that moment, Jennika screamed the loudest, Ive ever heard her cry, "BABA!!!!!!!!!!!"

Chapter Text

~Two Hours Ago~

POV Leo:

Darkness...pure darkness. I walked around the empty space, looking for any other life, but there was nothing. The floor ran out across the horizon, covered in a thick black liquid, almost like tar, I dragged my feet across the floor, struggling to lift my feet from the sticky floor. "Hello?! Anybody out there?!", I called out only for my voice to respond back, echoing across the void, "Hello?!-", turning around my words fell flat as I stared at a figure that stood a couple of feet in front of me, surrounded by a dual light, the floor around him was clean, in fact, the stuff back away from him.

"Leo...?", the words spoken sounded so soft, so young, I walked closer to see who it was the voice sounded so familiar, a voice I haven't heard in a while until a finally was able to see them, "Mikey?...". He was so small...so young, and his smile was so bright... 

"Leo!", I lowered myself with wide arms as Mikey ran toward me with the funniest laugh only to run through me, I turned around to see...me. "Leo, can we hang out, we can watch Space Heroes, or we can train if you want", in my head I wanted so badly to say yes to his request, to finally be able to fix his problem but that's not what the copy of him said, "Mikey, I'm busy right now, maybe later", he walked away disappearing into the void leaving Mikey alone in the dark. "Leo!", Mikey ran off to another copy of me, "Mikey stop! You messed up patrol, and because of you, Donnie got hurt, and the kraang got away"

"Wait, b-but Leo-"

"No! Mikey! You need to focus, you have been messing up during missions and patrol too much lately! What is your excuse now?!". 

Stop, please don't say that it wasn't his fault

I struggled to lift my foot as the tar began to climb up my legs, "It's not an excuse! I was surrounded by a ton of foot soldiers, too many to help Donnie out!", I stepped closer as tears fell down my eyes, "Oh don't start with that crap, Mikey! We were all surrounded by soldiers, so that's no excuse!", Mikey back away from the duplicate of me running away in the opposite direction as some of the tar traveled farther up my body. 

Mikey, wait! 

Mikey disappeared, running straight into the void.

*Beep*, 'what was that', *beep*, I turned around and froze *beep*, I pulled my feet across the ocean of black tar *beep*, finally stood next to the metallic table Mikey once laid on, I looked up from Mikey to see a copy of all three of us, staring down at Mikey. Raph leaned over on the table, breathing heavily, while I stood a couple of feet away staring at Mikey, I remember this night, how could I not, it was the night that changed everything. Donnie held a clipboard, looking over Mikey's head, "From what I asset, Mikey has a high probability of having a concussion, however, I can't tell how bad the hit is until he wakes up-".

"How long, Donnie...", He quietly scoffed under his breath, turned around, and walked toward his chair, sitting in his rolling office chair, "He should be waking up either between a few minutes or even a few hours from now". I watched as my copy groaned pinching snout bridge and walked toward the table, standing over Mikey, staring at him, "I just-", my copy leaned against the table, "He needs to train harder. He may have taken down the enemy, but he ended up super injured. I should have sent someone with him, he's not strong enough to fight alone". 

Shut up he did good, he did everything correctly, shut up! It's my fault he got hurt, stop it! 

The room fell silent as everyone stared at Mikey, my copy breathing heavily, tired from that day's mission, " Then why is he still part of the team. I heard Sensei say that he was falling behind after training". I watched as each one of us nodded in agreement to Raph's words, slammed my hands on the table, and leaned forward, glaring at my copy. 

God damn it shut up, he did everything perfectly, sure he got hurt, but his solo mission went perfectly, he took down all the foot soldiers by himself as well as Fishface and Dogpound, so just SHUT UP!!! 

My copy sighed as he began walking away with Raph, going straight into the darkness, "Just tell us when he wakes up, Donnie", watching my cope disappear into the darkness fully.

"Mikey!", hearing Donnie's voice, I looked down to see Mikey, fully awake, trembling underneath Donnie's touch. Donnie pulled a blanket over Mikey's body, "Leo, he's up". Guilt filled me as I heard his breath hitch and watched Mikey pull his blanket over his head, his breathing becoming unstable, my copy walked in nonchalantly, "What's up?". 

Mikey succeeded at calming himself down, only for his body to begin shaking aggressively, "He's awake, but he woke up in distress", I continued to stare at Mikey, watching his body curl tighter on himself. "Did you see about his concussion", I kneeled down and ran my hand over his head, feeling a sort of warmth come off him, even though my hand couldn't physically touch him, it was like he was right here. "No not yet, all that's left is memory and intellectual tests", Raph began laughing, I glared at him as he stared at Mikey, "Heh you know he's going to fail them all right".

"He's an idiot", growling under my breath I glared at Raph, "Well it's best to see, the concussion could be severe", I stared at myself, as he ignored to back up Mikey, only letting the insults continue, "And what, kill the few brain cells he has, he doesn't have any, Donnie". Everyone...started laughing, what type of joke is this. 

Shut up shut up shut UP 

I back up as Mikey slowly sat up, the blanket slowly falling onto his lap, his back facing the others, but his face stared at me, "I'm not doing this anymore...". Mikey jumped to the ground as Donnie ran up to him, "Mikey, what are you doing-".

"Forget the test...I'm too stupid to do them anyways", Mikey moved around the bed, staring at the ground as my copy stopped in front of him with his arms crossed, "Go back and sit down". Mikey stood silently staring at the ground, "Mikey, go back and sit-"

"No", Mikey looked up at my copy, "Michaelangelo-", Mikey glared at my copy, stepping toward him, "No!".

"No! I'm not doing this anymore! The insults! You treat me like trash compared to the other two! No matter how good I do on a mission, you always see the bad side, I literally found out something important about the foot clan that could change everything!", I stared at Mikey's back watching him shiver, tears fell down my cheek as I watched Mikey wipe his cheeks, wiping away his tears, "You guys never cared about me, today's patrol really proved it true", anger filled me as I stared at myself, still glaring down at Mikey. 

"I heard what you guys said earlier, how I'm too weak to fight alone and too stupid to do anything, and if you think so then you're probably right", listening to his broken voice I looked at Mikey's shell, I may not be able to see his face right now, but I remember it clear as day, he smiled and all I saw in his watery eyes was sadness and anger. Mikey pushed past my copy and Raph, stopping on the edge of darkness, I ran after him as quickly as I could, tar pulling me down to my knees. 

I'm sorry Mikey, it was my fault, please don't leave me, I should have been a better leader, I'm sorry! 

Mikey stopped and turned around, but instead of staring at the figures in front of him, he stared at me, "I quit...", disappearing into the darkness. 

No Mikey please forgive me, I'll be nicer, I'll be a better leader...I'll be a better brother, please...

"Then why...", I looked up from the ground to see Mikey, or what he would look like today if he still lived with us, his mask covering the large bags that hung underneath his eyes, "Mikey, please come back, I'm sorry for everything, I changed, I'll make sure the others don't make fun of you anymore, just please come back the lair hasn't been the same without you-"

"Why do you hate me so much, Leo...", I pressed my hand against my knee, trying to stand up, but instead fell further into the black tar. 

Mikey, I don't hate you, I miss you so much, please come home, back to your family

Black drops fell from Mikey's eyes as he leaned down, pulling me up from the tar by my sword strap. "You're a liar, Leo, we both know that...", his face held no expression, just blank, "You never cared about me...none of you did".

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*GASP*

I sat up and looked around, my breathing came out labored as I hugged my knees, I pulled out my phone, and checked the time, 07:00. Taking long deep breaths, I stood to my feet and walked away from the camping site Donnie, Raph, and I have been staying at since the beginning of the week. 

Walking into the forest, I took in the scenery, the wind blew through the trees, and birds chirped and flew around. I continued to walk deeper into the forest, walking farther and farther away from April's house, knowing full well another house was in this direction, I slowed down as I found a wide open space. I walked toward the middle of the empty circle and sat down, crossing my legs, and closing my eyes, I took a deep breath, listening to the strong sounds that moved around me. I placed my hand on the ground and rubbed my hand over the lush grass, I needed this, some time away from everything.

I've been having the same nightmare ever since Mikey left, the only difference with the nightmare is that it never shows the same memories, except for one, the memory of the day Mikey quit. The day he left, I've been calling all of our friends, asking them to search the streets, but no one could find him. A lot of them stopped searching and went back to their normal lives, that was after two months, people stopped looking saying maybe he left the city, or something. However, only a few people still search, the three of us, Casey, and Leatherhead, April stopped searching with us over three months ago, she never gave us an excuse, she just...stopped.

I continued to rub my hand over the lush grass, but paused, opening my eyes and opened my hand, "A red crayon?". I pulled out my phone, and the time was 08:20, pushing my hands against my knees, I stood up, stretching my arms, listening to the pops of joints. Making my way back, I walked through the forest, dragging my feet through the grass and small hills of dirt.

In the distance, I noticed Donnie was awake, sitting on the log, poking the fire with a long stick, moving the wood around. I walked up from behind him and sat on the log, staring at the flames flick around, sparks flying into the air, "Morning...", Donnie hummed, and continued to poke the fire, the bags under his eyes growing more purple, due to the lack of caffeine, "Did you have the same nightmare again". I didn't look at him as I pulled out the red crayon, rubbing my thumb over the paper that wrapped around it, "Yeah, how did you know".

"You kept talking in your sleep, well more like apologizing", Donnie reached for the crayon and looked at it, copying my action of rubbing his thumb over the paper. "Sorry, if I woke you", he shrugged and placed the crayon back into my hand, "Nah I couldn't sleep last night...hey where did you get the crayon".

"When I woke up, I took a walk, to have some alone time and found this nice opening in the forest, and I sat in the middle to meditate and found this red crayon", I slid the crayon into my side pouch and grabbed a small stick with a leave on it, watching the leaf burn slowly, "Where do you think he is now", I turned to Donnie, who continued to poke the fire, "Probably krangified on the streets...".

"So you don't think he actually left New York", Donnie shook his head, staring at the sparks fly into the air, "There's no way, in New York, there is a multitude of places he could hide in the city, but we've search almost all of them, and found nothing", Raph groaned as he sat up and stared at the fire, his eyes barely opened, "Do you think one of the people that help search for him, hid him", I shrugged, watching Raph stand up and walking over to the log across from us.

"That's a possibility, but why would they do that, if they did who do you think?", Donnie shrugged as I stood up, "All I know is when we find him, we're gonna bring him home, plus who knows he's probably been living on the street, home is way better than the street". I stared at the fire as I rolled up my bag, "Hey why don't we head back and just chill for the rest of the day", Donnie had a little smile as he stood up, throwing dirt onto the fire, putting it out, "Works for me, I have been dying to work on a few things". I tied up my sleeping bag and sat back down on the log, noticing Raph still sitting on the log, most likely still half awake. I pulled out my T-phone and leaned back on the log waiting for the other two, "Come on, Raph. Once we get home you can go to bed and sleep". Raph groaned slowly getting up, and walking over to his sleeping bag, rolling it up slowly, after a few tries he finally was able to roll it up correctly and stood up holding it under his arm.

We began walking toward April's house, each of us walking at different speeds, silence surrounded us, that was until Donnie spoke, "Hey, have you guys noticed that April disappears once a week for almost three months now, what do you think she does?", I turned around as Raph past me, ignoring Donnie's question, "Maybe she needs some time to herself, I mean her father was krangified", Donnie caught up with me and walked by my side, "But like, whenever I'd ask her if I could join, but she always said no".

"Exactly my point Donnie, she has been in a house full of guys for three months, so, of course, she would want to go off on her own, plus you have to agree it gets chaotic in that house sometimes". I laughed awkwardly as Donnie slouched, "Yeah I guess, your right...".

I faced forward and noticed Raph stopped at the edge of the forest, "Raph, why did you stop-".

"Shhh, look", I walked toward Raph and ducked behind the tree, confused as I saw a minivan park a good distance away from the house, "Do you think they invited someone over?". I turned to Donnie, dumbstruck by his question, "Donnie, were the only person they know, it can't be her dad, and who does she know that drives?". Donnie shrugged as I ran to the front of the house, and peeked through the front door, staring through the glass window, "See anything?", I shook my head and continued to look in seeing Casey and April talking in the kitchen. "Maybe Casey found a vehicle to work on", I opened the door scanning the entire house, but froze as I heard tiny steps walking toward us, a small white turtle with safety glasses walked around the couch, staring at us.

"Guys...you see the baby mutant turtle too, right?", I whispered quietly and they hummed in agreement. The small turtle walked up and stood in front of us, "What's with the funny-looking glasses".

"I think it uses them to see", I turned toward Donnie in shock, "Why did you call the turtle an it".

"Well do you know if it's a girl or a boy, and don't you dare say it's because of the pink you think it's a girl", Donnie whispered yelled and leaned down, staring at the small turtle. The small creature turned toward me and used my legs to hold themselves up, then reached up, making the grabbing motion. I picked up the small creature and turned toward the other two who stared at the small turtle, "Uhh, what's your name?". They turned toward me and reached for my mask, pulling it fully off, smiling widely, their grin only having three teeth, "Luh...Lee...ta...Lita!".

"Well, Lita what are you doing here, is your mom here", she shook her head and stared at Donnie, reaching for his glasses, while tapping her safety glasses. Donnie took off her goggles and looked at them, I turned toward the small turtle, chuckling as she squinted at Donnie, "She's wearing reading glasses at her age?!", Donnie whispered loudly and put the glasses back on her, making her blink a few times, "So who brought you here?". She pointed at the stairs and turned back to me, "Baba! Turtle too!", we walked farther into the house, and I noticed another turtle with similar markings but different colors, watching a show that reminded me of Mikey, Power Rangers.

"Sissy!", I stared confused at the small turtle, looking back at Donnie and Raph, who looked equally as confused as me, April ran into the room, but froze, staring at us, "April?!-"

"Sissy! Baba! Baba!", I stared at the little turtle, I felt so confused, 'who's this Baba, and what does she mean by 'Baba turtle too? Is that their dad? Is he a turtle as well'. April crept toward the living room, staring not at us, but at the small turtle that trembled underneath the blanket, continuing to growl at the three of us. "April, who are these kids, and what do they mean?", April switched her gaze from us to the little turtle, creeping slowly closer and closer to the creature, "April!-"

"Shut up guys, you're scaring her!"

"BABA!!!!!!!!!!!", I flinched hearing the loud sound, holding the small turtle in my hold closer to my body protectively.

*SLAM*

"Jennika?!", I froze in place as I heard the voice, that so familiar voice, that I haven't heard in so long, my mouth stuttered as my voice was quieter than a whisper, "Mikey...".

Chapter Text

POV Mikey:

Ten minutes...I have been awake for ten minutes now, but I'm so...so tired. 

How long have I been sleeping? How long have I been away from my sisters?

...Am...am I a bad brother? Am I even a good enough son?

I sat up from April's bed and listened to my breathing in the quiet dark room, staring at the palm of my hands, moving each green finger, barely visible with the light shining through the crack at the bottom of the door. 

I picked up the crystal and shimmied the gem between each finger, closing my eyes as the large room lit up from the sudden bright pink light, opening my eyes to see ten human fingers. I slipped the necklace over my head and slipped the gem into my shirt, I brought my hands up to my face and took small breaths as a tear fell down my cheek, 'God...I'm so tired, Mama', wiping the wetness away, I continued to sit in the long-forgotten silence, not like the forest full of wind and leaves falling, just pure silence. I fell back down onto the bed, letting sleeping take me once more, that was until...

"BABA!!!!!!!!!!!"

Jumping off the bed, and falling to my knees, I ran to the door and slammed it open, the sound echoing across the house, "Jennika?!". I ran down the stairs and looked around the room, my gaze switched over to the trembling blanket that sat in the middle of the living room. I ran up to the trembling pile on the floor and knelt on the ground coming down to calm her down, "Honey, it's me-", Jennika flipped up the blanket and run into my arms, not caring to look, all she knew was she heard my voice and ran into my arms, pressing herself deeper into my stomach. 

I picked her up and slid her into the sling, pulling the extra cloth over her head, I walked over to the couch, my eyes still heavy, as I rubbed my hand over her shell, scratching deeply into her shell. I looked down at the terrified child as I felt myself slowly fall back to sleep, I ignored the whispers that sounded around me as I scratched her shell, listening to Jennika's soft whines and sniffles.

"Baba?!", my head shot up as I looked around the room, and turned around to see Lita being held by some unknown turtles, "Lita...what are you doing with a stranger, come here", I watched the blue-masked turtle place her down onto the floor, who stared at me as she ran straight for her sketchbook. "Sweet pea, you can't just walk up to people you don't know, okay...", she looked down frowning, "Oh no sweety, I'm not mad, I was just worried, okay?", she nodded and I picked her up placing her on my lap. 

"Baba!", smiling widely she showed gave me her sketchbook, I picked it up and looked at the drawings she made, they were so cute, one of all of us, one of all of us with me as a human, and one of just the three of us, all of us as turtles, "It's beautiful, how about we take these home and hang them up on the fridge", she smiled and looked between me and the turtles behind me squinting hard, then pointed at the strange turtles, "Baba?", tapping her chest, I froze and my eyes grew wider as I stared at Lita who tilted her head, smiling with the biggest grin, "No Sweety, I'm your b-".

She looked at the turtles one more time, pointing at them then at me, "Baba! Turtle too!", I chuckled awkwardly, patting the top of her head, "What do you mean, sweety? Baba's a human. Now why don't you show sissy April your drawings", she smiled, running off to the kitchen as Casey walked out of the kitchen sitting right next to me, "Sooo...what's with the turtles". I felt Jennika begin to shake harder, her growls becoming louder, "Well, my mom adopted me and had these two before she found me", I noticed the three unknown turtles sitting on the couch near the kitchen, except for the one in purple who sat on the floor, I could tell he was staring at me, "Ohhh so these aren't your kids".

"What?! Oh god no, Casey I'm 14, don't you think I'm a little young to have kids", we laughed, but I stopped as the TV was turned to a show that I haven't seen in a while, "Is that Space Heroes?", the one in the blue mask quickly looked at me with the biggest smile. "Yeah, you know this show", I shrugged and looked down at Jennika, scratching her back, trying to calm her back down, "Yeah, but I don't watch it, my old family did, one of my siblings watched the show any chance they could, their other siblings teased them for watching it, I was one of them, but yeah". Smiling as Lita walked back over and sat in front of the TV, staring intently, "What was your sibling's name?". I looked toward the purple-masked turtle, then looked down at the carpet, "I'm not sure", April walked over placing a plate on the table next to me, "What's this?".

"Your food. Eat", I looked down at the plate and then at her, "Did the girls eat yet, Lita has a big appetite, if she's still hungry, you can give this to her". April's glare hardened and stood still, tapping her finger on her arm, "If she's hungry, she'll ask me, now...", she picked up the food and rested the plates on my lap, "When was the last time you ate, let me guess yesterday?". I shook my head as I took a small bite of the food, "I ate a small bowl of rice three days ago". I smiled and looked down at my food as I began to eat my food, but when I looked up, everyone, except the one with the red mask stared at me, shock covering all their faces. "Mikey!"

"Look, like I told you we've been running out of food, and the only way to make it last is to ration the food for myself-".

"So you have been starving yourself, but feeding your sister's the normal amount of food!", I nodded my head, confused as to why she was angry, handing the empty plate to April, she groaned walking off to the kitchen, "So...", the blue-masked turtle started, pausing the show. "Your name's Mikey?", I laughed as Lita turned toward the blue turtle, pouting her bottom lip, "Haha, No, my name's actually Michelangelo Shen, I go by many nicknames, but Mikey's the easiest", he looked down before he turned on the TV.

*Ding*

I pulled out my phone, and entered my password, going straight for my messages.

-------------------------------

April⭐: "Mikey, you need to leave, right now, those turtles are your old family"

Me: "..."

Me: "What?!"

-------------------------------

I slowly switched my gaze over to April, who handed me another plate of eggs, walking back over to the kitchen. I watched the TV, slowly ate my eggs, took a large bite, and finished my food. I walked over to the kitchen and handed the plate to April, "Where's my backpack", I whispered quietly as she picked up the plates and pan, placing them inside the sink. "By the front door". 

I walked over to the front door, and picked up the bag, noticing everything I brought was inside, except for Lita's book and crayons, "Alright, sweety ready to go". Lita turned around and walked toward me, holding up her sketchbook, and handing it to me, "Where're your crayons". Lita turned around walking to get her crayons, 'I need to leave, they're going to find out!', she ran up and handed me the crayons, I looked inside the box, noticing something was missing, "Hey Lita, where's your red crayon", the blue-masked turtle turned toward me as Lita shrugged and began reaching up for me to pick her up. I slipped the backpack onto my shoulder and picked up Lita, sliding her into the pouch, "Wait Mikey, why are you leaving so soon? It's only nine in the morning".

"Nine in the-, April I've been sleeping for almost twenty hours?!", I looked down freaking out, I reached for the door, trying to open it, "You can stay here, and hang with us-"

"Sorry Casey, but I can't, I've already missed all of my chores", he looked at me confused, "I haven't fed my cat, I haven't cleaned my Mom's weapons, I haven't even trained yet, I was supposed to train yesterday after a two-hour nap. Plus I haven't even checked on my mother, and I don't even know if I'm doing it right, she won't wake up and it's been three whole months, I'm so tired, but I don't get to be tired, I have these two to take care of".

"I can check on your mom and see how she's doing", I looked at the purple-masked turtle, thinking over my option, but if he was my old family then I knew the answer, "No, I'm sorry but I just met you and I don't trust strangers with my mom", I laughed awkwardly, but the turtle looked shocked as I opened the door, "I know what I'm doing, my brother actually woke up from a coma last month, so I can help-".

"No, I don't need your help, so far, everything has been going fine, she hasn't gotten sick, so no", I went to open the door as the turtle walked closer to me, "But you just said-"

"Yeah, I know what I said, but I'm good, I survived on my own so far-".

"Oh my god, why won't you let him help?!", the red one finally spoke, stomping towards me, my hand hovered over my weapon as the angry turtle stomped toward me, "You are clearly too stupid, to help your own mom, so let him help you-", his words were stopped as I aim my kama at his face, hovering my other hand over my other kama, "Why would I want your help. Why...", *sniff* a tear fell down my cheek as I stared at the turtles, anger filling every inch over my body as they stared at me, frozen in place, "Why do you care so much, when you never cared about your own brother", the words fell off my tongue, filled with venom.

"MICHELANGELO!!!", I turned toward April as she stomped toward, me and grabbed my arm, "No, April, wait-".

"No, I need to talk to him-, wait hey-", the blue one grabbed my arm, glaring down at me, just like my old family did long ago, "What the hell do you mean by that...what do you know about him", he pulled me closer to his face, anger covered every inch of his face as he looked down at me, "What did you do with Michelangelo Hamato". I pulled my arm away as he reached for my shirt, I pulled out my kama and aimed it at his throat and the other on the other side of his neck, "He's gone...", his eyes widened as he glared at me, "What did you say?!"

"He's gone!!! And he's never! Coming! BACK!", inches away from his face, I pulled back my kamas, sliding them back into their holster, I froze as I heard Jennika whimpering, trembling a lot, I scratched over her shell, and began bouncing, trying anything to calm her back down, whispering quiet sorries to her. I looked back at the blue one and whispered quietly to him, "So why don't you continue doing, what you did to him all those years, stop caring, and leave. him. Alone". All three of them quietly growled, glaring at me, "You don't tell us what to do, brat", I scoffed at their words as I turned around and walked toward my car, hearing the sound of the door slamming shut. 

I walked toward the car and slid the door open, pulling Lita out of the pouch, placing her into the car seat, and buckling her in, "Mikey, what the heck was that, I thought you didn't want them to know about this", signaling to all of me. I groaned and closed the door, walking to the other side, opening the door, and placing Jennika in her seat, now sleeping soundly.

"Mikey!", I closed the door, walked to the front, and sat down, leaning on the wheel, "I don't, but they were really pissing me off, persisting that they could help my mom, she doesnt need anyone's help but mine, I didn't need their help then, why would I need their help now". April sighed as she leaned on the door, I groaned and wiped my hands over my eyes, "Mikey, they've changed, your family has changed-".

"They are not my family. They never were. They never will be", I pointed at that house and sighed, leaning my head against the headpiece, "They can never change and I may not remember anything about any of them, but I do remember everything they did to me, and I remember that they were all..fucking dicks...".

-------------------------------

POV Donnie:

Raph let out a shaky breath, he was probably seething with anger, I looked down and turned to Leo, "You didn't think that was suspicious, right?".

"What, the fact that this random kid who stayed here for almost a whole day knows something about our missing brother", I walked over to the couch and sat down next to Casey, "Yes, but did none of you guys notice that he was basically a human copy of Mikey".

"What do you mean?", I leaned back on the couch, thinking over my words, "He has the same voice, same freckles, same eye color, same height just slightly taller, same name, he even wore Mikey's favorite color-".

"It's not him though", I turned toward Casey who switched to the sports channel, specifically the hockey channel, "We know it's not him, but how do you know that, Casey"

He tossed the remote off to the other side of himself, the side I wasn't on, "Because April confronted him...and I guess that somehow got to the topic of his sisters". Raph stood up and rubbed his eyes, "But what if she's lying...", Casey turned toward Raph, "Why would she hide something about Mikey", I turned toward Raph, thinking over the situation, "Raph, Casey's right why would she lie".

"But Donnie, not to alarm you, but did none of you guys see the drawings, that little white turtle with the goggles, what was her name-"

"Her name was Lita, and she's albino, Leo"

"Yeah, Lita showed that kid drawings of not just her and her sister, but another turtle", I quickly switched my gaze toward Leo, "What do you mean?!", I stood up and looked at Leo, "Lita she drew a third turtle, plus did you hear what she said and did early?!".

"Ughhh no, just spit it out!", Leo walked around the couch. He sat down next to Raph, leaning his elbow onto his knees, groaning annoyingly, "She pointed at the kid and us, saying turtle?! Why would she be pointing at him when she said turtle?", I sat back down and leaned back, pulling out my T-phone, looking through my phone, "So what, that turtle might be stupid", deciding that this conversation was going nowhere, I opened my tracking app, watching my tracker, drive down the open road, at a comfortable speed, then began slowing down, turning onto a dirt road, "But did you not notice he avoided the question, and distracted the kid, what if he knows something about Mikey?", the tracker slowed down and stopped by a structure, before going inside, "And if you remember the kid did answer his question, he told her that he was human-".

"Even so, right after he distracted her by telling her to go show April her drawings-", I pressed the location of the structure, and saved it to my phone, zooming out to see the distance. "-Plus Raph, he has to know something, he talked about him like he knew something we didn't, talking to us like he's seen us before, but I keep thinking back and I've never seen that kid a day in my life...Casey what can you tell me about this kid", the distance from here to him isn't far, probably could get there in thirty minutes if we walk there, fifteen if we run. "Well, honestly aside from grades he acts exactly like Mikey, he's very friendly, and agile, especially in sports, and what I've seen from his art class is pretty good".

"What do you mean by aside from his grades", I said as I peeked away from my phone and looked at Casey, "Well the Mikey we guys know, he struggled to understand the words you said, even when you describe it in a simple way, he doesn't understand, but that kid, he has really good grades, from what I heard he has an A- in algebra, A in chemistry, B+ in history, A- in robotics, A+ in Art Class, A+ in PE, A+ in Music, A in English, and an A+ in home economics", I looked down and stared at my phone, the tracker didn't move for ten minutes.

I looked toward the front door as April walked in and closed the door behind her, walking straight upstairs, "I'm gonna take a nap, those kids took all the energy out of me", I waved her off and noticed Raph open his mouth to which I covered it watching her leave, "Donnie, what the hell bro".

"Raph, if April knows something we can't ask her, she'll just alert that kid".

"Donnie's got a point, Raph", Raph groaned and fell back into his seat, rubbing his eyes, "Back to the topic at hand, his grade is strange if it was him somehow, Mikey always had the shortest attention span, so sitting in a class for an hour, especially nine classes, plus robotics, sure Mikey has asked me a few times if he can help, but still, however, the home economics does sound like him", Raph looked at me confused as he leaned back in his chair, "Home what-"

"It's basically just a bunch of kids cooking food, and his food always turns out delicious"

"Exactly, Mikey has always been really into cooking and art, but this still makes no sense, what else do you know about him", Casey groaned leaning over, then snapped back to reality, "Oh right, this really isn't about the kid, well partially, but the first time we met him, which was inside a store, he was completely fine up until the moment he saw me and April, he started breaking down, constantly glancing at us, his mom told us that he's nervous in public, but I saw him a few times and he seemed complete, his mom, oh my god what was her name-", I placed my phone on the side table, leaning back into the cushion, "Well the kid said his name was Michelangelo Shen".

'Shen where have I heard that name, I swore I'd heard that name before', I looked at the ceiling, my eyes staring at the popcorn texture roof, "Oh right, her name was Tang Shen". I switched my gaze over to Casey, staring at him with so much shock, turning my gaze back over to Leo and Raph, who shared similar expressions, "Did you say...Tang Shen...".

"Yeah, really nice lady, but she always wore a mask over her face, every chance I see her-"

"Casey are you sure that was her name...", Casey nodded and looked back at the hockey game, leaning lazily against the couch, "Guys, you don't think...", Leo stood up and walked behind the couch, pacing back and forth with his hand on his head, "There's no way, Master Splinter said she died in a fire long ago".

I stood up pulling out my phone showing that kid's location, "Then how about we go find out, that kid said he's taking care of his mom, why don't we go there ourselves and make him tell us where Mikey is". 

Chapter Text

POV Donnie:

"Donnie...", I turned toward Casey as he grabbed my phone staring at the screen, his eyes widened, and looked up at me, "How do you have his location...". I grinned proudly as I snatched my phone out of his hands, pulled out one of my old creations, and shoved it into Casey's face, "I may or may not have placed one of my trackers into his backpack when we walked into the house". Casey stared at the device in my hand, "You put a tracker into my friend's bag", I shrugged putting my creation back into the pouch, "So, when are we going to check out this kid's place". I turned on my phone, sending the location to both Leo and Raph, "We'll go tonight, near the dead of night at twelve in the morning".

"And Casey, you're not coming with us", I stared at him surprised as he nodded his head, standing up from the couch, "Yeah, I don't want to break into my friend's house, so I'm fine with that, but promise me you won't hurt his sisters". I stared at Casey as he opened the front door, switching his gaze between the three of us, "Why the heck would we hurt kids, especially mutant turtle kids". He rose his hands above his head as he looked away, "Hey if you're willing to break into a house and kidnap a high schooler, don't judge me for assuming".

"Well that's different that kid possibly knows where our brother is", Casey stared outside then closed the door, leaning against the wall, "But...what if Mikey doesn't want to be found...". Leo quickly stood up and stared at Casey, "What the heck are you saying", Casey rolled his eyes, and pushed himself off the wall, "Well, if Mikey wanted to be found, why hasn't he come searching for you guys". I stood to my feet and glared at Casey's words, "Think about it, he left his phone, 'cause we know full well that you put trackers into the T-phones, Donnie".

"That's just in case one of you guys get kidnapped by the enemy-"

"And what about recording Mikey's text conversations and calls...", my eyes widened at his words, I backed up and glared at him, "How did you know about that-"

"You did what, Donnie?...", I turned toward Leo, slouching as he stomped toward me, "I-I", I shook my head and stood up to my full height, "My reasoning for doing that is understandable", I turned toward Casey, "And Casey, how do you know that-"

"His text and calls never made sense, I always asked in texts and calls, cause I noticed one day while he was out he was smoking an E-cigarette, but he denied it over text, but when I asked him in person, he said he got it from-"

"Whoa whoa whoa slow down, Mikey smoked?!", Casey nodded as Leo stared at the ground, his mouth hung open, "Yeah, and honestly when I noticed him by himself, he smoked pretty often, even after he ran away", my eyes widened, when he spoke, "You saw him...after he ran away?!".

"Look every time, I pass by an alleyway, I caught a glimpse of him smoking next to that cat, but when I walked back, he disappeared...but one thing always confused me", he walked over to the couch, and sat down, close to the opposite side of the couch, "Which was what, Casey". I glared at Casey, pissed that he's had multiple chances to bring my brother home, "Every time I check the alley, he disappears, and the same homeless kid walks out every single time, wearing the same bright orange sleeveless hoodie, and holding the same cooler...".

"And you never told us this?!"

"Dude I thought I was seeing things, why would I tell you, guys, if I was just going crazy, I thought it was a coincidence that I saw the same kid every single time after a flash of pink filled the alley before he walked out!", Casey grabbed his head, and pulled his head toward the ground, shaking as his grip tightened on his hair. "Every single time I saw that Mikey then in a flash of pink, he was gone, switched with some kid that wore his hoodie every single time he walked out-".

"Wait what do you mean a flash of pink", Leo walked up to Casey, no longer glaring instead, frown not in disappointment, I knew that, but in pity, "I saw a flash of a pinkish light, he always hid behind a trashcan, but he disappeared right after the flash of light appeared". 

Leo turned toward me and Raph, his eyes wide, I stared at him as everything started connecting, my eyes widening as well, "You don't think", Leo looked down, and stepped away from Casey, pacing back and forth in front of the couch, "It's a high possibility, the kraang captured him, after he ran away, Casey, how long did this happen", Casey continued to look at the ground, "Up until the middle of July, after that, I never saw Mikey, again, not even the kid that walked out after showed up", I thought to myself as I stared at the ground, my eyes training over the designs in the carpet, "Do you remember what the kid looked like?".

Casey nodded his head and leaned back into the couch, his body still tense, "He was this tall-", using to hand to motion the kid's height, "His hair was really unkept, but was still a very fluffy brown hair, he had bright blue eyes and freckles that covered his face-"

"Wait-", I stood and walked in front of Casey, staring at him, "Did he look exactly like the kid that was just here?", Casey looked at the ground, his eyes slowly widened, "Oh my god...you don't think", Leo picked up the remote and turned off the TV, chucking the remote onto the couch, "Okay that kid definitely knows something about Mikey, so we're going there tonight. Find the kid, and make him talk".

I nodded my head, determined, and stood up from the couch, staring up to the top of the stairs, turning around as I walked up to April's room, "Donnie, where you going?". I turned back to Casey as he turned the TV back on, leaning over the couch as he looked at me, "I want to check on April, she seem a little weird when those kids were here". I slowly walked up the stairs, and stepped quietly toward April's room, raising my hand, I went down to knock on the door when I heard April's voice, stopping before I made contact.

"The guys were talking about breaking into your place tonight, and making you talk...human you talk", I pressed the side of my head closer to the door, listening to April, 'Human you?' I listened carefully but was unable to hear the voice on the call. "Donnie, the one in purple, put a tracker inside your bag before you left!", I back away from the door, 'wait she's calling that kid, why is she telling him our plans?!'. "They also talked about how Casey saw you a few times when you lived on the streets, saying every time he passed by an alley you were in, you disappeared and some kid walked out".

"Yeah and they connected that the kid that always walked out was the kid they just saw downstairs, they also think it has something to do with the Kraang, Casey saw a flash of pink light, every time you walked out". I pressed the side of my face into and listened carefully as April sighed, "Look all I'm saying is you should hide somewhere else just for the night, that includes your mom-", she groaned, her footsteps walking closer to the door, "Mikey, I finally realized why your mom's name sounded so familiar, she's was your old father's supposed to be dead wife, he told me that she died in a fire years ago", silence followed April's words, 'His old father...Wait is she talking to...Mikey?!?!'.

"I've gotten only glimpses of her upper face, but never lower since she always wears that mask around me".

"Mikey what is underneath her mask", her words louder than a whisper, "...Burns...", their words were quiet on the call, but loud enough for me to hear. I backed away from the door, 'There's no way...Sensei's wife...is still alive', I stepped back toward the door and pressed the side of my face back onto the door. "See! Mikey you need to take the kids and your mother away from there, leave the bag, or at least leave the tracker there. Drive away-".

'What the heck, why is she telling that kid our plans', "You're right well be safe, they said they're going tonight but I didn't hear a specified time, so be ready by sunset", I cracked open the door and peaked inside the room, seeing April sitting on her bed, leaning against her knees, "...Yeah I did but now looking at how much you love your current one, that you would put them first and protect them...why would I take that away from you...".

I backed away from the door, not caring to listen anymore, I quietly shut the door and ran downstairs, my breath came out uneven, and sprinted straight for the front door, my ears rang as my heart rate grew louder. I swung the front door open, and ran straight for the barn, locking it behind me, 'Oh my god, Raph was right...but why would she hide something about Mikey away from us, I thought she...was our friend'. 

I slowly walked over to my homemade desk and sat down on the chair, resting my head on top of my desk, "None of this makes any sense, how is she alive, she-", I stood up and walked around the barn, thinking over the many possibilities, "She was burned alive with her daughter in Japan, but what if she did survive, why would she come all the way to New York, and where did she get two baby mutant turtles-"

"Hey Donnie, you all right?", I turned toward the door to see Casey, walking straight for the truck and began working on the vehicle, "Yeah, I just need some space to think", I walked toward my desk and thought over the theories, but none of them made any sense. "You sure? You looked pretty shaken up when you ran out of the house", he reached into his pocket and pulled out some gummies, throwing three of them into his mouth, sliding the packet back into his pocket. "Yeah, it's just...when I went up to check on April I...kinda heard her...talk to someone, I think it was that kid, but...I honestly don't know...", Casey walked up to me, his face carrying so much anger, "You listened in on a private conversation April had?! I thought you said you were going to go check on her! Not spy on her!".

"I was, but when I heard talking inside the room I got curious, okay!!! I was gonna walk away, but she said something that made me need to listen!", Casey stomped closer to me, pushing me down into my folding chair. "Oh yeah, and what was that?!?!?!", I pushed his arm away from me, and leaned against my knees, gripping my knee pads tightly, "She was telling someone on the call about our plans, telling them everything...", my breathing come at labored as I looked up at Casey who continued to glare at me, "She told them that they need to get away, that I put a tracker in their bag...which means-".

"That April was calling my classmate, Mikey! No wait, are you sure you heard it correctly, maybe"

"You know I like April, why would I lie about something terrible she did!", Casey groaned pulling up a chair, and sitting in front of me as he ate another one of his gummies, "Yeah, you do have a point, but none of this makes sense why would she tell him your guy's plans?!"

"I don't know! But I didn't stay during the entire call, but there was stuff I heard that I don't want to believe and don't understand".

"Like what?", I placed my hand on my head thinking back to the call, "That we were going to go make him talk, human him talk...what does she mean by that? Plus when they were talking about Tang Shen, Splinter's dead wife, she remembered who that was. She was 'his' old father's dead wife...", Casey looked down, his eyes scanning the floor, "So do you think-"

"I think that kid is our Mikey in disguise, but I'm still confused about how". I sat still thinking over what he could have found that helped disguise him, only to flinch as I heard Casey gasp, "Wait! Whenever we were in PE he changes inside the bathroom stall, but I've caught small glimpses of his necklace!"

"Necklace?..."

"Yes, but the crystal on it always looked so familiar, but I was the only one who saw it since he only changed in the locker room-"

"Casey what did the gem look like", Casey looked toward me, trying to collect himself, "Like the kraang power cell...", I stared at Casey, quickly turning around toward my computer, searching for what I hope is not true. "I always tried to ask him where he got it, that it looked sick, but he would just say, he found the crystal during a trip with his old family and made it into a necklace, but...", I stopped my typing and stared at the screen, slowly turning back to him, "He doesn't remember anything about his old family".

"What do you mean?", I said staring at him, fearing the worst, "When we asked him what his old family was like he says he doesn't remember, a teacher asked who named him Michaelangelo, and he said he doesn't know...whenever he said that he seemed...happy? Like he was actually glad he doesn't remember them", I turned back to the screen, scrolling through the files upon files of Kraang's information, all their prisoners, experiments, even failed experiments, I opened the experiments, scrolling through the pages of experiments, selecting the filing called 'Testing crystals', I continued to scroll, thinking I've heard of that type of experimental crystal the kraang were working on before, "What are you looking at", I heard the sounds of him pulling up his chair, sitting directly beside me, "Well you describing that crystal, I know I saw that somewhere in these files~, Ah Ha!", I clicked on the file, and looked at the information.

"'The Transformation Cell', The transformation cell is a crystal still in beta, that can change the user's whole stature and DNA to be equivalent to a human's own biology, from the exact physique of the human all the down to the exact chromosomes to make a perfect human. Testing has proven satisfactory, however, some experiments have shown needed results, while others had side effects, the main consisting of amnesia and sickness. The sickness has a multitude of symptoms, such as severe body aches and pains, excessive sweating, body shakes, nausea and vomiting, and fever, if high enough could lead to seizures, however, we have only seen one experimental test subject. With these side effects, we are still fixing the errors of the crystal, Kraang is advised to not use the transformation cell, until all errors have been fixed", at the top of the file showed a picture of a room full of crystals that looked identical to the power cell's stature.

"This makes so much sense now, why we couldn't find him and why you saw a flash of light, he was transforming into a human, whenever he saw you. He never left New York, he was just in disguise-"

"But all of this still makes no sense, why would April never tell us about Mikey",  deleting all the tabs that had kraang information, shutting my computer completely, "Who knows, but now we know where Mikey is-", I pressed my finger against the table, and continued to stare at Casey, filled with so much determination, "-and tonight he's coming back home, where he belongs".

------------------------------

~Fourteen Hours Later~

I stood behind a tree and stared at the house, no lights were on, the minivan was still there and the tracker has not moved in the past fourteen hours thirty-two minutes and eighteen seconds. I turned toward Leo as he cleared his throat gaining Raph and my attention, Leo placed his finger over his mouth causing me to roll my eyes, Leo started running toward the house, running off to the side.

I ran up to the front of the house, and turned the knob, groaning to find the door locked, I pulled out some hairpins, moved the pins around, and finally unlocked the door, quietly pushing and opening the door. I step inside only to stop, the house was so pristine, walls beautifully decorated, walls lined with the finest paint, I broke out of my adoration as Raph hit the back of my head, "Come on, Donnie", he whispered loudly. I quietly walked around the bottom floor, noticing the house had the same build as April's, I searched the closets that sat on the bottom floor, and the pantry as the others walked upstairs, but I found nothing. I walked over to the kitchen, remembering that Mikey said he was low on food, opening the fridge, I noticed a good amount of food, however not enough for two baby turtles and a teenager, I closed the fridge as I opened the freezer, shocked to see Ice Cream Kitty. I smiled softly as I looked at her sleeping form, resting peacefully.

"Hey Ice Cream Kitty~", I whispered quietly and rubbed my thumb against her chin, listening to her quiet purring, "Donnie what are you-...is that?". I nodded my head and continued to pet the cat, turning my head back to Raph, his eyebrow bones turned upwards, "Did you guys find him", Leo walked inside the kitchen and froze staring at the cat we haven't seen in so long. "What is she doing here, she disappeared a year ago, and why were you looking in the fridge?", I pulled my hand away and licked the excess ice cream off my fingers, closing the freezer door, "Yeah, I found her, when I was looking around", ignoring Leo's second question, Leo shook his head, getting back to topic, "Did either of you find the him".

"No, I checked the entire downstairs", I said as Raph nodded his head, "And I checked the barn, it's like he disappeared", Leo looked down thinking over, but I knew he was still in the house, I turned around thinking about where he could be hiding, "But he didn't, his minivans is still here and his backpack is over there, meaning he's hiding somewhere inside the house".

I walked over to the living room, looking around for any hiding spots, rechecking the spots all four of them could hide in, knowing full well he wasn't in the forest with the kids. I stood in the middle of the living room, scanning for anything weird, "I know you're here, Mikey!!!", silence filled the room as Leo walked over next to me, "What are you doing-", I covered Leo's mouth as I listened carefully, "I heard April's call, warning you that we were coming over, so why don't we just get this over with and come on out, we miss you, Mikey", Leo pulled off my hand and stared at me, "April told him?! Why didn't you tell us?!-"

"Leo! Can you shut up!"

*SMACK*

Chapter Text

!TW Characters getting high!

!Please read those end notes!

POV Donnie:

"Leo! Can you shut up!"

*SMACK*

I pressed my hand against the pain that grew on my cheek as silence filled the room, Leo glaring down at me, "Donatello, what the hell is going on with you", I walked away from Leo and Raph as I continued to yell for Mikey, "Come on, Mikey, it's us, your family's here!", not only did anger fill me as silence echoed back, but sadness as well, I held my breath trying to listen for any sound, a creek of the floorboard, a whine from either baby turtle, anything, but I heard nothing, "GODDAMN IT MIKEY, PLEASE COME OUT!-"

"DONNIE!!!", I looked back to Leo as he stormed toward me, grabbing me harshly by the arm, "Mikey's gone! Now we're leaving, that kid clearly left before we got here!", I tried pulling my arm away, but Leo's grip tightened at my efforts, "No! Mikey's here! I don't know where, but he is, April knows, she's been hiding the whereabouts of Mikey for who knows how long!-"

"Donatello. We're going back to April's place, and you're going to explain everything", He pulled me toward the front door, "Leo listen-", Leo turned around and tightened his hold, "No Donnie, I get you miss him, we all do for god's sake, but he's not here", he spat out, letting go of my arm, his hold sure to leave a bruise tomorrow, but his tone was full with anger and authority, "You two, let's go".

-----------------------------

The walk back was silent, no one talked once on the way back home, I continued to make my way back to the house, and decided to go work on some experiments. We walked out of the forest and I broke off from the others, making a beeline to the barn, no one stopped me, well at least I didn't hear anyone. I pushed open the door, and shut it closed behind me, 'Why aren't they as concerned about Mikey as me', I walked over to my desk, scanning over the organized mess that was spread across the entire surface. 

I needed a distraction, something to get my mind off the entire situation, 'Maybe Leo's right...Mikey's probably not even here, it's probably all just one really big coincidence'. I pulled my chair out and fell into it, leaning my entire body against the surface of the desk, I stared at the mutagen in front of me, fatigue filled my body as I stared at the glass, and watched the colors of blue and green mix around the beaker. I sighed and continued to stare at the glass.

'I mean what is the chance that this is actually Mikey, the probability would be about 10%, however, the knowledge of him possibly having a crystal raises the possibility to 62%, but with his short attention span, and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, he would struggle at focusing in many of his classes, meaning grades should be averaging with a 3.2 GPA, so him having almost all A's in all his classes, especially in chemistry, algebra, and robotics, brings the probability back down to 12%...unless he was taking Adderall or Concerta, then it goes to 71.5%, but he wasn't fighting with his nun-chucks, he wasn't the strongest, so him learning a new weapon is out of the question...plus Casey could have been seeing things, he is high every chance he gets, plus Mikey smoking?!?! I mean I don't even think he would know how to use a cigarette, he didn't even know how to insert VHS tapes into a VHS player. So that brings it back all the way down to...*sigh* 8% chance'.

Reaching into my pouch, I pulled out my headphones and plugged them in, needing something to calm my nerves, scrolling through the few playlists on my music.

~Lacrimosa but humanity has ended by Mozart~

I took a deep breath of relief and listened to the music that quietly play into my ears as I grabbed a testing retro mutagen batch, and my microscope, placing them both within reach. I siphoned a drop of the mutagen onto the glass slide, and gently placed a coverslip onto the sample, sliding the glass underneath the lens. I looked through the eyepiece, and observed the mutagen cells, watching the cells becoming more and more unstable, causing the cells to break down. I backed away from the microscope and looked over the chemicals organized on my desk, reaching over I grabbed a catalyst and methanol, dumping a small amount both quickly into a separate beaker with a small amount of mutagen, stirring the mixture with the glass rod, watching the mutagen slowly becoming more purple rather than its needed yellowish orange color.

I placed the compound underneath the microscope and watched the chemicals interact, mixing together at a completely unstable rate, and moving around in a chaotic motion. Backing away from the device, I picked up some sodium chloride and poured a small amount into the beaker, watching the mixture glow as I stirred the chemicals watching the glimmer grow brighter and brighter. Turning the liquid into a nice glowing rose gold, shimmering a stunning yellow color, but not the yellow I was looking for. Picking up the calcium carbonate, watching the mixture turn into a similar orange, however, this one was slightly darker, forming a more burnt orange color. I placed the rod down as I stared at the chemicals that sat in front of me, but none of them were working, I rested my head on my hands as I took a deep breath, listening to the end of the first song.

~Hey Lover by The Daughters of Eve~

I sat still and listened to the song that played loudly through my headphones and leaned back in my chair listening to the words play into my ears.

For love is just the same

Without fortune and fame

Just give me true love and understanding

True love and understanding

Hey, hey, hey, lover

You don't have to be a king

Hey, hey, hey, lover

You don't have to have a thing

I closed my eyes and let my body relax to the music, placing my glasses on top of the desk, and pulling my goggles above my head. Music like this song always helps with my emotions, specifically romantic ones, letting me feel emotions I never experienced before. In the lair, during patrol and even working alone, there are so many emotions I feel during those events...anger, sadness, joy, and disappointment, but never love.

Hey, lover, won't you treat me right?

And be with me tonight

Just give me true love and understanding

True love and understanding

For the rest of my days

I took a deep breath, feeling the excellent sawdust air flow through my lungs, the words played through my ears, and filled me with a warm feeling inside my chest, daydreaming that I was the one singing the song, imagining that I was this lucky. Letting out the deep breath I held inside my lungs, and opening my eyes I sat up looking at the desk, I scanned over the wooden surface, and noticed a plastic package filled with a few gummies. 

I reached over to the far side of the desk, and grabbed the candy, staring them as I moved them around using my thumb. My stomach growled loudly as I stared at the bag and grabbed two gummies, tossing them into my mouth, and chewing down on the sweet gummies, "Oh peach". Placing the bag off to the side near me, I siphoned a drop of the mutagen batch onto a new glass slide with a coverslip on top, placing the slide underneath the microscope. I looked through the eyepiece and watched as the cells moved around with the calcium carbonate atoms, fusing together to form a more stable cell, however, the structure wasn't completely stable.

~Four Hours Later~

POV 3rd Person:

Donnie stared at the empty beaker as he swallowed hard, trying to rid the feeling of cotton shoved down his throat, his stomach still growling as he stared at the last gummy. Donnie grabbed the last one and tossed it into his mouth, chewing down on the last one, Donnie groaned when he noticed the bag empty. "Ahhhhh. I'm hungryyyy", Donnie moaned as he slowly stood up, and walked toward the barn door, feeling every grain of dirt as he was walking toward the door, goosebumps growing on both his arms. 

Donnie slowly lifts up the lock, and pushed open the door, noticing Casey making his way over to the barn, "Yo Dee-, what the..", Casey walked closer to Donnie, his face a few inches away from his face, staring at his eyes. "Casey, get out my face...dude why is the air feeling super spicy on my eyes", Casey backed away as he laughed harder than Donnie has ever heard, just like a hyena, "Hahahah dude did you eat my edibles?".

"No, I ate some peach rings...do you have any more?", Casey grabbed Donnie by the arm and pulled him toward an old couch that sat on the far side of the barn, "Dee, how many did you eat" sitting Donnie down with a blanket resting on top of his lap. "Uhhhhh...this many", Donnie held up all his fingers, chuckling as his wide smile began making his face hurt, "You ate six?", Donnie shook his head, then grabbed it, feeling slightly dizzy from the movement, "No, not six...nine".

"Nine?! Oh jeez, your brothers are going to kill me. Okay stay here and I'll make you something to eat", leaving Donnie behind on the couch, Casey picked up his phone and scrolled through his phone playing a slow song.

~Razzmatazz by I DON'T KNOW HOW BUT THEY FOUND ME~

Walking out of the barn, Donnie sat on the couch, listening to a soft fast beat that played quietly next to him. Donnie stared at the old pillow that laid on the side of the couch and picked up the cushion, grazing his fingers over the oddly soft material, "The air is so spicyyyy". Donnie shut then opened his eyes as he stood up from the couch, and walked over to the wooden desk, dragging his feet across the dusty dirt floor, grabbing an unused glass stirring rod and empty beaker, and walking back to the couch.

Donnie fell onto the couch and stared at the glass rod, placing the tip of the glass into his mouth, grimacing at the weird taste, "Ewww, noooo", Donnie continued to bite on the rod, and listened to the soft clicking as his teeth made contact with the glass, pulling the rod out of his mouth, Donnied began tapping the glass stick on the side of the beaker, tapping to the beat of the music. Donnie swayed back and forth as the song played into the next one then the next, the song beginning to form one long loud song, Donnie continued to tap to the nonexistent beat with the largest smile on his face as he chuckled under his breath.

"I'm back with some food!", Casey shoved the door shut with his foot, carrying two bowls of Spanish rice in each hand. Casey placed the bowl of rice on the side, and picked up the glass rod and beaker away from Donnie's grasp, placing them off to the side, "Casey, nooo I was playing with that". Casey laughed as he handed the bowl to Donnie, pulling out a joint and a partially destroyed lighter, "I know, but look I made you some rice", Casey flicked the switch over and over until finally, a flame grew, lighting the joint. 

Casey took a deep puff, and blew the air off to the side, laughing as Donnie shoved a large scoop into his mouth, forgetting to chew. "You know Dee", Donnie slowly closed his mouth, and chewed down on the rice slowly, shifting his eyes over to Casey, "I've kinda always wanted to get high with you". Casey took another puff of smoke and held the air in, "I'm not high, Jones, I'm just...hungry heh", Donnie continued to eat the rice.

"So did you find anything at Mikey's house", Donnie shook his head, "That kid disappeared", Donnie grumbled as he scooped the last bit of rice into his mouth, shoving the bowl into Casey's lap, and reaching for the other bowl, "Dee that's mine, here-", Casey stood up and walked toward the cabinet that sat next to Donnie's supply cabinet, pulling out large family size bag of ruffles, tossing them into Donnie's lap. Walking back to the couch, Casey took another puff from the joint, placing it on the ashtray that sat beside him, tapping off the excess burnt ash.

POV Casey Jones:

Leaning back in the old lumpy cushion, I took another puff of smoke and sighed in relief, feeling my body begin to tingle at the familiar feeling rush through my body, "Case...do you know how marijuana works...", I shook my head and looked toward Donnie who struggled to open the bag as I place the joint off the side, reaching for the bag of chips, opening the chips, and began eating a handful, pushing the bag off to the side and ate my rice, "THC is able to alter the functioning of the hippocampus and orbitofrontal cortex, brain areas that enable a person to form new memories and shift his or her attentional focus. As a result, using marijuana causes impaired thinking and interferes with a person's ability to learn and perform complicated tasks".

I hummed acknowledging Donnie that I was listening, and picked up the joint, taking another puff of smoke and another large bite of rice, "THC also disrupts the functioning of the cerebellum and basal ganglia, brain areas that regulate balance, posture, coordination, and reaction time". Donnie reached over to the opposite side of the couch and grabbed the bag of chips that sat on the other side of me, shoving the chips into his mouth, and making a mess all over the couch. "People who have taken large doses of the drug may experience an acute psychosis, which includes hallucinations...and delusions...", Donnie's words fell quiet as he stared at me, his chewing slowed down, and continued to stare at me. "Dee you good, buddy?-"

"Casey, you never saw Mikey...you just saw a homeless kid, huh", I stared at him and remembered the facts he just said, "Are you saying I was hallucinating, Mikey", I stared at Donnie, shocked that he would say that, he stared at me for a fat moment before nodding his head, throwing a handful of chips into his mouth, "But you said that you heard April-"

"Yeah, I did say that...but the probababa...ility that that kid being actually Mikey is low, its an 8% chance...", I sat back staring at Donnie as he looked at his hands, causing me to sigh as I handed him the large bag of chips, and chuckled as Donnie stared at his hands, drool pooling down his chin, "What were we talking about", Donnie shook his head, trying to remember our conversation and pulled out some chips, "Nothing man...hey you still hungry".

"Yeah, can I have more rice?...", I shakily stood up and picked up my joint, smoking the last bit left on the thing, pressing it into the ashtray, getting rid of the flame. "Sure, Dee, let's go", picking up our bowls, I walked over to the barn doors, and turned around to Donnie groaning, "Caseyyyyy, my legs feel weeeiiird", I laughed and walked over to Donnie, sliding the bowls into my oversized pouch, pulling Donnie's arm over my shoulder.

Pushing the barn open and slamming it shut with a kick of my heel, I walked toward the house and watched my steps, each step moving once at a time one in front of the other. "Whoa, look at the sky...", Donnie went silent as I stepped onto the porch, pulling him up with me and quietly pushing the door open, noticing everyone went off to bed, "Did you know today there were eighty-eight constellations, but tonight we can only see five, they are Ursa Minor, Draco, Cassiopeia, Cepheus, and Camelopardalis".

"That's cool, Dee, you're so smart", I whispered gently placing him on the couch, and covering his legs with a blanket, "Yes, the smartest". I laughed and walked over to the kitchen, pulling the bowls out of my pouch, and began scooping a large portion into his bowl, scoping the rest into my bowl. I walked back over to the living room and placed the bowl on the table beside Donnie, laughing as he stared at the ceiling, chuckling under his breath. I picked up the remote and played Animal Planet, tossing the remote onto the couch, and falling next to Donnie, eating scoops upon scopes of rice.

~One Hour Later~

I stared at the screen as a new documentary started to play, specifically one about a turtle, I listened to the guy's voice as he talked about the turtle, his voice was so soothing. "Diamondbacks get their name from the natural pattern that occurs on the scutes (bony plates) of their shell. They are diamond-shaped and filled with concentric circles (like bullseye) that make this an easy species to identify", the screen showed a turtle walking by on the TV, eating a small piece of lettuce. 

I stared at the TV as I heard plastic crinkling near me, and turned toward Donnie, watching him eat the edibles I had in my pouch, "Hah ha, duuuude those are miiiinee", Donnie laughed, and continued to eat the gummies, never looking back at me. I slowly snatched the bag out of his hand, and pushed them back into my bag, "Nooooo, I want more peach riiings", Donnie leaned over me reaching for my gummies, "Noo, Dee they're mine", I whined pushing Donnie away, he slouched against my hand, continuing to reach for my bag.

I turned toward the window, watching the sun rise up into the sky, "Haaaa, look...", Donnie fell onto the couch, and stared at the window as the both of us chuckled under our breath, "We were up all night heeh". Donnie fell back onto the couch, and laid his head on my lap, staring at the screen, "Whacha doin', Bud", Donnie shrugged his shoulders and continued to rest his head on my lap, I looked down at his shell, and dragged my finger along the lines of his shell. "Dee...what turtle is you", lifting his hand he pointed at the TV, "Ohhh".

"We need to talk to Donnie about last night-...Casey, you're awake?", I started laughing as I ignored Leo and stared at the turtle on the screen swimming. "Casey?", I turned toward the two on the staircase, giving them a crooked smile, "Casey, did you know...", Donnie got off my lap and turned around, waving to his brothers that stood behind the couch. I turned toward the others as Leo and Raph walked toward Donnie, Leo stared at his eyes, and slowly turned his gaze to me, "What did you do to Donnie?".

Chapter Text

POV Mikey:

I groaned and woke up to darkness, the room lit with the small light that hung lazily above my head, feeling a pressure on my chest and against my side I looked down and smiled, happy to see my two sisters peacefully sleeping. Jennika was resting quietly on top of my chest and Lita pressed into my side, resting her head on top of my shoulder, drool pouring down my arm. I gently lifted Lita off my arm and kept Jennika pressed against my chest, sitting up from the uncomfortable mat that sat underneath us. A foot away, I picked up my phone and entered my password, unlocked my phone, and went to April's contact, asking her if the intruders left my home. It was six in the morning, I knew she would probably be asleep still but it was worth a shot. I slid Jennika and Lita into the sling, scratching small circles into both their shells, resulting in them pressing the bodies closer to mine.

Walking over to my Mom, I checked over her condition, making sure she was still good, even though she wasn't sick every time I checked, I just want to make sure, I'm just...worried. She laid still on the extra mat that was left down here, her head resting on top of a pillow. I pressed my hand against her forehead, it was warm but not too hot, I moved her hair out of the way checking on the scratch beside her eye, the scratch healed over a month ago, but I rather be safe than sorry. It looked fine, but she was starting to smell, letting me know it was time for everyone to bathe again.

I was ready to get out of this basement, I stared at the walls I lazily cleaned free of any cobwebs and trash left behind by the last visitors. During the first week, I came to this farmhouse, and explored the area, the forest, the barn, and the house, during that I found this basement, perfectly hidden away from anyone, the trap door hidden under a large rug, covering all the cracks that would spill out the light from the light below.

I looked down as I heard a ding alerting me of a new notification.

----------------------------------------------

Me: Hey did those guys go back to the farmhouse or are they still here

----------------------06:36----------------------

April⭐: Yeah, they're back and they're yelling at Casey XD

Me: Casey?! What did he do :/

April⭐: The older two walked downstairs to find a very high Casey and Donnie downstairs LOL

Me: LMAO!!! Are you serious?! Casey got someone high!

Me: Without me :(

April⭐: Mikey...you have kids to watch! I ban you from smoking

Me: I know, I stopped smoking over a year ago lol

April⭐: YOU SMOKED?!?!?!

Me: ...

Me: no.

April⭐: Mikey

Me: Fine I did, but I stopped three months after I ran away

April⭐: Oh my god, Mikey

Me: Hey also before I forget

Me: One of them heard our call last night

April⭐: What?! Who?!

Me: IDK?! I dont remember that old family remember?

April⭐: Oh right...

Me: Well be careful

April⭐: You too Mikey

----------------------------------------------

I placed my phone on the railing and pushed the trapdoor, moving the door completely out of the way to see the light that flowed through the windows. I pressed my hands into the bottom of the sling, holding the girls as I slowly walked up the steps, stepping out of the basement, and taking a deep breath of the dust-free air. I turned around and walked toward the stairs, making my way up to the master bedroom, I pushed open the door, and walked toward the crib, gently placing the twins inside closer to each other, wrapping a blanket over the cool bodies.

Turning around I walked back down the stairs, back into the basement, and picked up my mom, gently carrying her up the multitude of stairs until I reached the master bed, placing her in the bed next to the crib. Looking over all three of the sleeping bodies, I noticed my mom's hair was somewhat tangled and crazy, tangles from the days of being unkept, I walked over to the backroom and grabbed the brush, walking back over to my mom. 

Sitting near the back against the headboard of the bed, I pulled my mom up, and leaned her head against my shoulder, pulling her hair all into one section. I picked up the brush and started with the ends, holding the hair tightly in the hope to cause her no pain, I continued to comb her hair, brushing through it over and over until finally, I reached the top of her head, her hair no longer looking messy and tangle. I gently placed her head back on the pillow, and walked back to the bathroom, putting the brush somewhere on the counter, full of loose hairs.

Walking back down to the basement I picked up as many of my mom's weapons as I could, and brought them back to the spare room they belonged in, continuing my trip to bring each weapon back up to the spare room they stayed in for the past three months, placing the last one on the cushion. I walked back downstairs and quietly closed the trapdoor, moving the rug back into place, and walking back to the spare room. On the side table was placed a bottle of cleaning solution, specifically made to polish weapons and blades, there was a stone to sharpen the blades, but I was scared I would break her weapons. I cleaned each weapon, starting from the tallest all the way down to the smallest weapon, finishing off with the throwing stars, placing them back where are picked them up from before.

I checked on the twins, happy to see them still sleeping soundly and cuddling each other, I walked away and down the stairs, walking straight for the kitchen. I looked around the kitchen and checked our supply of food left over, all that was left was a few bags of boe tie pasta, two cans of pasta sauce, three canned veggies, and less than a gallon of rice. And inside the fridge sat, leftovers from when the kids couldn't finish their meals, most of them being from Jennika, Lita always could finish her meals, always asking for seconds even thirds on rare occasions. I closed the fridge door and opened the freezer, greeting the sleepy kitty that slept in the freezer alone, I closed the freezer, finally deciding it was time to go out and buy more food for the house.

I walked upstairs and stepped into the master bedroom, walking straight for my backpack, I dug through the bag, searching for my wallet, only to find a small device with a flashy red light.

The one in purple, put a tracker inside your bag before you left!

Anger filled me as I stared at the device that lay in my hand, flashing over and over alerting the creator of the device's position. I swiftly turned around and walked downstairs, pulling out a used Ziploc bag I put away, throwing the device straight into it, and walking straight for the front door. I quietly pushed the door open and stopped, staring at the new device that sat on my porch laid over a piece of folded paper, I bent over and picked up the device, looking over the design, the screen lighting up to show a picture of me smiling next to Ice Cream Kitty, the case design was weird, it looked just like mine and the twin's shell. I picked up the paper that sat still on the floor and unfolded the sheet, reading over the neat writing that was written over that purple paper.

Hey Mikey,

It's Donnie, your brother. We miss you so much every single day you're not with us, each day I think back to how I could have prevented this from happening, you leaving us. Mikey, we've all changed-

*RIP*

I tore the paper in half, ripping it over and over until the letter was in shreds, shoving each piece into the Ziploc along with the other device, and jumped off the porch, making my way straight over to the barn. I pushed both doors open and watched as they swung open, showing the beautiful inside of a carpenter's workshop, walking over to the workplace stood a wall that had many tools hung up, placed perfectly since the last time they were once used. Scanning over the wall, I grabbed the sledgehammer and pulled it off, walking over to the center of the barn, and placing the bag on the ground, I left a little opening where the air could escape. Lifting the hammer above my head, I stared down that the bag and slammed the hammer down on the bag, I squatted down onto my knees and lifted the hammer above my head again and crushed the devices, over and over until all that was left was pieces of tech.

Walking back over to the wall, I put the hammer back in its place, and walked back to the bag, picking it up and staring at the destroyed tech. I left the barn, and closed the doors behind me, walking straight for the van and chucking the Ziploc into the front seat, closing the door behind me.

Walking back into the house, I took a deep breath as I felt a bit of the stress fall off my shoulders, 'That felt...so nice', I sighed feeling the cool air hit my scales. I closed the door behind me, and stood still staring at the floor below me, 'What was I doing', I traced my steps back, trying to think what I was doing before, until I finally remember, 'Oh right!'. I walked up the stairs and continued what I was doing before and picked up my backpack, searching for my wallet. Looking through each zipper, I found my wallet in the side pocket and tossed my bag onto the ground, opening my wallet I pulled out the cash in the pouch, counting each dollar, '$60...okay, I can work with that'.

Picking up my necklace, I placed it around my neck, and slid my wallet into my pocket, grabbing the sling and throwing it on, tightening the straps to fit my human size. I walked over to the crib and picked up Jennika first sliding her gently into the sling, then picked up Lita and slid her into the other side.

I walked down the stairs and walked to the front door, pushing the door open, and closing it behind me, walking straight for the van. I opened the side door and placed each twin into their specific seat, covering each one with their own soft blanket, and shutting the door soon after. Getting into the front seat, I turned on the radio and played my favorite music station, I started up the van and back out, driving down the dirt road, turning onto the open road, and driving straight for April's house.

~Weak by AJR~

I turned down the music, not wanting to wake up the sleeping children in the back seat, but loud enough for me to jam to.

But I'm weak, and what's wrong with that?

Boy, oh boy I love it when I fall for that

I'm weak, and what's wrong with that?

Boy, oh boy I love ya when I fall for that

I'm weak

I sang the words as I drove closer to the entrance to the road to April's and slowed down, pulling off onto the side of the road. I pulled out my phone and dialed April's number, waiting for her to answer, and turning down the music almost all the way quiet.

----------------------------------------------

April⭐️: "One second *whispering*"

Me: "Kay..."

April⭐️: "*door shuts*"

April⭐️: "What's up?"

Me: "Hey, I know I ask a lot-"

April⭐️: "Dude stop, I am fine helping you and the girls, anything for those little beans. Now what's up"

Me: "Heh, well it was about time I got restocked on food"

April⭐️: "About time?! Ha! You should have done that a month or two ago!"

Me: "Anyways! I just need you to come and watch the girls in the car, while I go inside, they're sleeping so just keep an eye on them and make sure no one sees them"

April⭐️: " Yeah I can do that. Let me know when you get here"

Me: "I'm already here. Walk out front and let me know when you are out so I can quickly pick you up"

April⭐️: "Oh! Okay I just need to sneak out, one sec"

April⭐️(???): "Hey April, after we're done with Casey, I need to talk to you, Donnie said something last night and we need just to clear the air, okay?"

April⭐️: "Sure Leo, I'll be out front for a bit"

April⭐️(???): "Okay"

Me: "..."

April⭐️: "Okay, I'm outside, come on"

Me: "Sweet, I'm hanging up now"

----------------------------------------------

I turned down the dirt road and drove to the front door, turning so the passenger side was close to her, as she got in and buckled her seatbelt, I picked up the Ziploc and chucked the bag toward the front door, quickly driving down the dirt road onto the open road, feeling the adrenaline rush and laughing as I looked back seeing no one chasing after us. "Mikey, I'm so glad you came when you did, one of the guys was gonna talk to me about something Donnie said last night, most likely the call he heard last night-".

*RRRIIINNNGGG* *RRRIIINNNGGG* *RRRIIINNNGGG*

April stopped talking and pulled out her phone staring at the screen, "It's them!", I turned off the radio and chuckled under my breath, "Put it on speaker I want to hear", she laughed and answered the call, turning it straight to the speaker, turning it up so both of us could hear.

----------------------------------------------

April: "Hey Leo, what's up?"

???: "April, are you okay?! I saw a van-"

April: "Oh yeah, I'm fine"

April(me): "*Snickering*"

April: "I'm just going to be out for a bit"

???: "April, I told you I needed to talk to you about-"

April: "Yeah I know, but something came up sooooo"

April(GPS): "In one-mile turn left on willow road"

???: "April, do you mind telling me who you're with, because if it's who I think-"

April: "I'm with Big Foot, Leo"

April(me): "*gasp*"

???: "...April come back, we need to talk, and bring that kid as well"

???: "Since he's probably with you right now"

April: "Sure we'll definitely come back"

April(me): "Huh?!"

April: "Bye!"

???: "April-"

----------------------------------------------

April quickly hung up the call as I broke down laughing, "So I'm Big Foot now, huh?", April calmed down her laughing and slipped her phone back in her pocket, "Oh shut up, what did you want me to say, oh I'm with that kid, whos house you broke into last night", she laughed finishing as she turned the music up just a bit louder, "Oh my god, I love this song"

~Tattoo by Loreen~

Seeing the road up ahead I turned left as I listened to April quietly sing the lyrics.

Violins playing and the angels crying

When the stars align then I'll be there

No, I don't care about them all

'Cause all I want is to be loved

And all I care about is you

You're stuck on me like a tattoo

I sang the words with her as I saw the little store up ahead, and slowed down to turn into the very small parking lot, parking near the front door. I turned around to check on the twins, happy to see them still sleeping. "Okay, I'll be in quick", she gave me a thumbs up as I turned off the car, tossing the keys into her lap, "If it gets too hot, you can turn on the car". I closed the door and walked into the old store, scanning over the shelves, noticing that some were almost considered empty. 

Grabbing a cart, I walked through each aisle, and grabbed all I needed, trying to stay within the budget, I picked up many cans of soups, stews, veggies, anything I thought the girls could handle, some pasta, and some more rice, well whatever rice they had left, and grabbed fruits to give the girls more flavor than just pasta, and rice. I stopped near the cool section and grabbed a dozen of eggs, placing them gently into the cart. 

I walked toward the front and put the items on the counter, listening to the soft beeps, until he scanned the final item, "Okay with the eight cans of beef stew, nine cans of soups, eleven cans of vegetables, six pounds of rice, ten bags of pasta, a bundle of uhhh-", the worker continued to talk in an empty voice as he rang out my order, finally reaching the end of the list, "-and your total is $54.49", I looked over the items and looked back at the cool section.

"Actually there's one more thing I want to get, hold on". I turned around, ran toward the cool section, and grabbed a pound of ground beef, placing the item on the counter. He scanned the meat and placed it back on the counter, "Your new total is going to be $59.89", reaching into my pocket, I pulled out my wallet and handed him the cash left in my wallet, receiving a dime and a penny back, "Thank you!", I packed on the bagged items into the cart and pushed it out next to the van. April jumped out of the car and helped shove the food into the trunk, "Whoa, how much did you spend?"

"Oh just about sixty bucks", I swung the trunk shut and walked back to the front seat, starting the engine as I closed the door, backed out, and drove onto the open road. Turning on the radio, I heard some quiet chirps behind me, and looked in the mirror to see Lita waking up from her deep sleep, "Hey sweet pea~", she rubbed her eyes and opened her mouth, yawning deeply. "Hey April, do you want to go back to your place and come back to mine?", I quickly switched my gaze from April to the road, waiting for her answer as she played with little Lita, "Yeah no, and go home right now to an angry turtle, heh nah. I'll chill at your place for a bit", I chuckled under my breath as I turned right, making my way back home.

The soft song played as I drove down the road, listening to the directions back to my house, "You know what's funny, Mikey", I hummed letting her know I was listening, keeping my eyes on the road, "Out of everyone, you kind of remind me of the little brother I never had", mocking her as I awed, and began fake crying, "Reallyyy?", my voice high pitched as I turned onto my dirt road, "Oh shut up, Mikey", she laughed as she shoved my shoulder, I pulled off my crystal and laughed along with her and sliding the crystal into my pouch, parking the car beside the house, and turning off the car. "Okay here's the plan, I'll bring in the groceries, can you just take Jennika to bed and bring Lita into the house".

"Yeah, sure. Normal place?"

"Yep", popping the p as I stepped out of the car and walked toward the trunk, but froze, feeling a pair of eyes staring at me, I brushed it off as I noticed Lita staring at me over her seat, but as she looked away the feeling of eyes never went away. I turned around and looked around, seeing nothing out of the ordinary, I popped open the trunk and grabbed the bags of food, taking each one inside, and putting the food on the counter, ready to put them all away. I walked back outside and grabbed the last bag, noticing the pair of eyes were no longer there, confused I walked back inside and placed the last bag on the counter. I began putting the food away, the cans of soups and bags of pasta into the pantry as well as the rice, placed the fruits and meat into the fridge, and finished putting all the groceries away.

"MIKEY!", I quickly turned around and ran toward the stairs, "April, what's wrong?!", I grew worried as I ran up the stairs, seeing April standing near the bedroom door, "Are the girls hurt-"

"Your mom's awake!"

Chapter Text

POV Mikey:

I stood at the master bedroom doorway as tears streamed down my face, and stared at her as she sat up on the bed, holding Lita close to her side, "Mama...?", I sniffled as I slowly walked up to her, this felt like a dream, just like the many I had every single night only for her to die in the very end. She turned me and smiled, slowly waving me over, patting the empty spot next to her, "ねえ、ホン..."

(Hey, hon...)

Her voice sounded so raspy as she spoke, "Hey Mikey, I'm gonna go get your mom some water, I'll be right back", I nodded and turned back to mom, tears continuing to pour down my face, I scooted closer to her and softly hugged her, pressing my face into her shoulder as my quiet sniffles broke into loud sobs, "ああ、それは大丈夫です-"

(Aw hon, it's okay-)

"I know, but you were unconscious for three months *gasp* *gasp*, and I was so tired taking care of these two by myself, *sniff* well besides April, she came once a week, to watch them while I rested and trained, we even went to a small stream-", I broke down into sobs as my words turned into mumbles. My mom scratched my shell, and dragged her nails in circles, "I cleaned and polished all your weapons, and the girls drew and watched shows...", she pulled me away from her shoulder and looked at my face, dragging her thumb over my cheek, rubbing the tears away, "私はあなたをとても誇りに思っています、ホン。あなたは自分でとても良い仕事をしました"

(I'm so proud of you, hon. You did such a good job on your own) 

She looked at me so softly as she kissed me on the cheek, "Mama! Look! Fammy!", Lita placed the sketchbook on her lap as her little tag wagged.

"Alright, Ms. Shen, here's some water", Mom grabbed the cold cup from April's hand and cradled the cup, "Thank you sweetheart, and I heard you helped Mikey out a lot, thank you. You are welcome to our home whenever you want to come over", walking off the side of the room, I grabbed a chair for April and placed it next to the crib, sitting back on the bed next to my mom. I looked toward the crib as I heard Jennika's churring quiet down, her small eyes opening and with a quiet yawn. 

"Morning Honey bee~", I picked her up and placed her on my lap, facing her toward our mom. She slowly opened her eyes and stared at her, continuing to stare until after a few seconds started crying, reaching for our mom, "*sniff* Mama!", I quickly handed her over to Mom, smiling as Jenny grabbed onto her shirt, crying into her chest, "Hey, Mikey, I'll be downstairs, so you can catch up with your mom", I nodded my head and scooted closer to the bedside.

'I continued to tell Mom about the last three months while she was unconscious, I told her about the food shortage, how I had to ration the food for myself so the girls, continued to grow at a healthy rate, I told her about how I clean the weapons every single day, I even told her the creek we visited a few times, telling her about how the little ones swam around in the shallow water and splashed around. She listened carefully and smiled as she held the twins close to her stomach. I talked about everything, I told my mom about how yesterday I was super tired and needed a nap, that our weekly hang out wasn't for another day, but I was so tired, so I went to her place and she said some of the people were out, so I took a nap upstairs, and she watched them, telling her that Casey, my classmate, saw them, but he had no problem with them, but he only saw my human disguise. And during this whole chat, tears fell down my face, my eyes growing redder and redder each minute'.

My mom cupped my cheek as she looked down at me and rubbed the tears off of my cheeks, "ごめんなさい*sniff*ママ、私はケーシーがそれらを見るつもりはありませんでした、*あえgasp*私-私はとても疲れていました"

(I'm so sorry *sniff* mama, I didn't mean for Casey to see them, *gasp* I-I was just so tired) 

She pulled me into a tight hugged and pulled away, "ホン、私は怒っていません、双子は言うまでもなく、赤ちゃんの世話をするのは大変な作業です、そしてあなたのクラスメートは双子を見ます、それは確かに危険です、しかしあなたが言ったように、彼は彼らにさえ反応しませんでした、それでそれはすべて大丈夫です、あなたはただ次回もっと注意する必要があります、いいですか?"

(Hon, I'm not mad, taking care of babies, let alone twins is a lot of work, and your classmate seeing the twins, sure that's dangerous, but as you said, he didn't even react to them, so it's all fine, you just need to be more careful next time okay?) 

Sniffling as I smiled at my mom, wiping the stray tears away, "ほんとですか。"

(Really?)

"ほんとですか。。。そして、私があなたをとても誇りに思っていることを忘れないでください、そして私はあなたを私の息子として迎え、あなたが彼らの兄になることをとても嬉しく思います"

(Really...and don't forget that I am so proud of you, and I'm so happy to have you as my son and have you to be their big brother)

A stray tear fell as she said those words, I wiped it away, smiling at her with the biggest smile I could make, "Thanks mom", rubbing her thumb over my cheek, smiling softly, "問題ないフン"

(No problem hun) 

I smiled and stood up from the bed, stretching my arms, listening to the soft pops and cracks, "I'm gonna see if April and I can find you a cane to use so when you're ready you can walk around the house".

"ああ、それは素晴らしいことですが、どこで手に入れるつもりですか?"

(Oh, that would be great, but where are you going to get one?)

I looked down thinking of anything we could, but nothing came to mind, "Hey, April!", quickly after I heard footsteps walking up the stairs until her head popped in, "Do you know if there's a cane or something at your place", April looked at me, then turned her gaze down, "Yeah, but I don't remember where it was. Wait let's check your barn, maybe there's something in there". I nodded my head and turned back to my mom, who nodded as well, "Okay, Mom I need you to lay down. Girls can you watch Mama while me and sissy go out for a bit". Lita nodded her head aggressively, but Jennika switched her gaze between me and Mom, "Baba?".

"I'll be right back, I promise", she nodded her head and hugged our mom, I walked over to mom, laying her down on her back, and moving her cup within reach. Turning around toward the open door, I walked downstairs and scrolled straight for the front door, pushing the door open and walked outside, "So what do we do if we don't find a cane", I looked back at her as we walked toward the barn, "She has some staff weapons that she can use...Race ya!". 

Breaking into a sprint I ran toward the barn, "Hey you cheater!", I turned around and ran backward, flipping around and running forward, I laughed as April tried to catch up, and sprinted toward the barn, slapping the door as I got there first. "Haha, I win!" I pumped my arm into the air as I swung open the door, walking inside and flicking on the light. Exploring the barn, I looked around and searched for a cane, "Did you find anything, April?", I looked around, seeing the wall of tools, but nothing good enough to be a cane.

"April?", I turned around to find an empty barn and looked around the building, walking out of the barn, but April was nowhere to be seen. The feeling came back, eyes staring at me from afar, "April? Come on out we need to look for a cane remember...?", silence responded back, I walked around the barn and scanned over the area, but she wasn't there. I walked back to the house and looked around the path we took to the barn, but she was gone, no signs of struggle anywhere, and there was no way she left without saying bye. I locked the door and ran around the house, locking and closing all the doors and windows, closing all the blinds and curtains as well. I ran upstairs and barged into the master bedroom, only to see all three asleep and cuddling underneath the blankets, I smiled as I kissed the twins' forehead, "I'll be back girls".

I pulled out my crystal, staring at the purple crystal, 'I need to keep this out of reach, the intruder might see the crystal and take it', I slipped it around my ankle, leaving it out of sight and out of reach, changing into my human self. I tucked the crystal into my tall sock and began sprinting to the spare room and grabbing my kamas and nun-chucks. Placed them into their specific holster, and before leaving the room, I grabbed the bo and brought it to the master bedroom, placing it next to the bed.

I ran downstairs and out the front door, locking it tightly behind me, and scanning the area I still couldn't find April, she was nowhere in sight, but the watching eyes were still there, "April! Come on this isn't funny, we need to go inside, the others are waiting for us!". I looked around and pulled out my phone, dialing April's number, I looked around as I held the phone up to my ear, listening to the ringing go on and on, but froze as I heard the same ringing behind me. I hung up the call and turned around, sliding my phone into my pocket, only to see...Big Foot, carrying April with its hand over her mouth.

"Hey we mean no harm, can we please talk this through", Big Foot walked closer to me and stared at me, but before I could do anything, it picked me up, releasing its hand over April's mouth, starting to race into the woods, running at a fast speed, "April what's happening?!", I watched as the trees passed by quickly, seeing the small stream not far ahead, "I met her a while back, but she never did this before?". I scanned the area we were passing through, growing more and more confused more time passed by I stared at the even sky as the colors shifted to a reddish purple.

Bigfoot finally slowed down and walked the rest of the way, I could see where she brought us, April's farmhouse, "April, listen carefully", I whispered loudly as April looked at me worry covering her face, "You know nothing about the crystal, I hid the gem somewhere else on me, just in case they somehow found out okay?!", she nodded her head as we were brought closer and closer to the house until bigfoot stopped, tapping her foot on the door.

The door crack open barely, I couldn't tell who answered the door as I faced the ground, "Oh Bigfoot looks like you brought me just the people we needed", lifting my head to an uncomfortable position, I glared at the turtle that looked down at me, smiling smugly, "Let me go!". Bigfoot walked inside and placed me on the couch next to April, I stood up from my seat but was stopped as a rope was wrapped around my arms. I watched as April tried to stand up but Raph pushed her shoulder down, making her sit on the couch next to me, I scanned the room I sat in, it was so sad to look at, empty with barely any decorations, then I noticed Casey sitting on the couch next to us, "April, so you want to tell us why you told this kid about last nights plans".

"Because he should be warned if people are going to break into his house, and scare his family!", the blue one walked up to her and glared at her, "True, but we weren't there to scare anyone, we just needed answers from him, about our Mikey that's all-"

"That doesn't give you the right to just kidnap us from my house, dude! She was helping me out with some stuff!", I spat at the blue one, leaning forward in my seat, only to be pushed back by the red one.

"So you were the one who picked her up today?", I turned toward the voice only to see the purple one looking somewhat angry, "Yeah, just needed her for a few hours, so what? Aren't I allowed to hang out with a friend?", confused as the purple grew angrier by the minute, "Now if you don't mind I have some children and a mother to take care of, so-"

"We can go get them, I mean you probably have no idea how to take care of them, I mean you are just a kid, heh", I glared at the red one as the words fell out of his mouth, "No, don't you dare go near them", I whispered as the purple one walked closer to me, and grabbed my shirt, pulling it down and looked shocked, 'He knew about the crystal', the purple one turned back toward Casey, "I thought you said he wore a gem around his neck". I gave the purple one a look of fake confusion, "Oh you mean my necklace, yeah I lost it on the way here when I escaped New York. Why did it mean something?".

Purple turned around and walked behind the blue and red ones, who continued to glare at me, "Where is he", the words not sounding like a question, more like a demand, "Who?", I sat there actually confused about who he was talking about, "Michaelangelo Hamato", I glared at him as he said that name, leaning back into the couch, "I don't know-".

"You're a liar! You know about him!", I sat forward and glared at the red turtle, "Yeah, I know about him, he told me so much about you guys, but here's the funny thing. I haven't seen him for over a year", the red one grabbed me by the shirt, pulling me up to his face, "Where is he?", I shrugged my shoulders and looked out the window, the sky now fully dark, "Look, I really don't know where he is, he left New York, he said he wanted to travel with some friends he met on the streets, he asked if I wanted to join, but I've known New York all my life, so I decided to stay, okay? That's all I know, now can you let me go, I have kids at home, can I go now?". All three of them glared down at me, well except for the blue one, 'Please believe it. Please believe it-', he looked at me, staring at my eyes, "Fine...".

"WHAT?!", the purple and red ones stared at Blue as he loosened my wrappings, "He could be lying, he knows where Mikey went!", I rubbed my hand over my wrist as I pulled out my phone, listening to the group behind me arguing. Cringing at the many missing calls from my mom, I dialed her number, and listened to the ringing, waiting for her to answer, which she did.

--------------------------------------

Mama✨: "ああ、ホン、どこにいるの?!"

(Oh my goodness, hon, where are you?!)

Me: "ごめんなさい、ママ、エイプリルと遊んでいて、時間を忘れてしまいました、ごめんなさい、あなたと女の子たちは元気ですか?"

(I'm sorry Mom, I was hanging out with April, and we lost track of time sorry, how are you and the girls?)

Mama✨: "私たちは大丈夫だけど、二人はもう一緒になった方がいいよ、二人は一緒にいると可愛いよ"

(We're fine, but you two should just get together already, you two are adorable together)

Me: "いや、お母さん！私は彼女とデートすることはできません、彼女は私の友達です、そして彼女はその家族の友達です、覚えておいてください！"

(No, Mom! I can't date her she's my friend, plus she's friends with that family remember!)

Mama✨: "それで、あなたもとてもかわいいです！"

(So what, you two are so cute!)

Me: "いいえ、私はこれには関与していません、お母さん！それに、私はあなたの3人の世話をしなければなりません！"

(No, I'm not getting into this, Mom! Plus I need to take care you of three!)

Mama✨: "いいけど、もし彼女ができなかったら―"

(Fine, but if you don't get a girlfriend-)

Me: "いや、さようなら！家で会いましょう、お母さん！"

(Nope, bye! See you at home, Mom!)

--------------------------------------

I slid my phone into my pocket and walked to the door, stopping in front of it, I looked toward Casey, confused to see them all staring at me, "Is something wrong?"

"Yo, since when did you know...?", I chuckled as Casey struggled with figuring out what I was speaking, "Japanese? I guess forever, I knew it before I met my mom", I smiled as I opened the door, but instantly frowned seeing no sign of my car, "Hey Casey, can you drive me home, I need to get home". Casey stood up stretching his arms and walked over to me, "Sure man, let's make this quick how far do you live".

I walked out the door with Casey, and noticed the Ziploc from earlier on the ground, still discard, "One second, just go to the car, and pull it up right here", I ran inside with the bag in my hand and walked up to the group of three with the fakest smilest I could make. I grabbed the blue one's hand and placed the bag into his palm, "Here, I thought you would like this back", the purple one quickly grabbed it out of his hand and glared at me as I continued to smile, "What did you do with my tech and...you destroyed his phone?!-"

"Yes, as well as the tracker and letter, mmhm, well I hope we never meet again", the purple one barged through only to be stopped by Blue, "Why?! You got a problem with mutants?!", he said sounding really offended, glaring at me from the center of the living, standing between the other two turtles. 

"Oh, no I don't actually, hanging out with Mikey I was able to meet a bunch of nice mutants, Leatherhead, mondo gecko, however, me and mondo gecko haven't been the closest since Mikey left, so no I have no problem that you guys are mutants, I mean my sisters are mutant turtles, and Mikey left his pet cat with me to take care of until he finds a place, so they can be together, however, I do have a problem with you guys in general. I mean would you want the people that broke into your house, to be near you or anyone you cared about?", my tone empty as I stared at the tall purple turtle, who glared down at me. 

"So if you don't mind-", I walked up to the purple one and grabbed his strap, pulling him close to my face as I glared at him, aiming my kama straight for his throat, "Stay away from my family and me...I don't care that you're a turtle like my sisters, but you guys absolutely disgust me", I smiled as I let go of his strap and turned around, walking straight for the door, "Bye April, let's swim the next time you come by", closing the door behind me.

Chapter Text

~Three weeks later~

POV Casey:

"Ugggghhhhhhhhh", I grabbed my head as I woke up to a terrible headache, and turned onto my side, falling right off the couch onto the dirt floor. "Uuuggghhhhhhh, my head", groaning into the dirt floor, I pushed myself off the floor and got back onto the couch, leaning my head against the back of the sofa. Looking off to the side of the side table, I saw an unfinished joint left in the ashtray and picked up the joint and lighter, lighting the last bit left, and inhaling the smoke all in one deep puff. Exhaling the smoke into the air, I smiled feeling my headache calm down barely, becoming more bearable.

I stood up from the couch, and smudged the joint into the ashtray, rubbing out the spark, "Maybe April has some pain pills", I stood and swayed to the barn door, pushing it all the way open. I straightened my walk, and walked to the house with less of a sway, pushing the front door open, "Okay, guys tomorrow we're driving back to New York-, Oh Casey perfect, we were talking about taking back New York". I nodded my head as I walked over to the couch, falling right next to April, "Hey April do you have any pain meds", I whispered as I leaned back, closing my eyes.

"Oh yeah, one sec", I opened my eyes and watched April stand up from the couch and walk over to the kitchen, walking back with water and a Ziploc, barely filled with many different pills. April sat down next to me and searched the plastic bag, "Oh, how many do you want", I stared at the bag switching my gaze between her and the bag, "Uhhh how many milligrams are each one".

"About two hundred each", my headache was bad, but not a thousand milligrams bad, "I'll take three", pulling out three orange pills, she placed them into my hand. Looking at the pills I threw them into my mouth, swallowing all three in one go, "Thanks April", I looked toward her, confused to see her giving me a water bottle, "Casey, did you dry swallow the pills?", April stared at me as well as the others, "Yeah, don't you? But I'll take that", I twisted the lid off and chugged the water, slamming it down onto my lap.

"Anywaaaayyysss-, so as we stated before the plans are simple, tomorrow were all going to leave back to New York, once we get there, group one which is Raph and me, are going around the city's North-West side, searching for Sensei, while you three are going to search the city's South-East side. Donnie, your team should search the sewers and the original kraang territory, and we'll search the sewers and the foot territory, if no one finds anything, search the streets, the moment you catch sight of Master Splinter or anything else important, contact me immediately". Leo stood up from the couch and stepped in front of the group, "Donnie, what's the status of the retro mutagen", I turned my phone on, scrolling through my social media, "Retro mutagen is nearly complete, I have tested a vast majority of the chemicals on hand, but I'm so close to stabilizing the retro mutagen. When we get back to New York, I can continue my experimentation, until then the stabilization of the retro mutagen will be placed on hold until we get back. For now, the only issue we have at the moment is the van".

"Okay perfect and that was what I was going to bring up next. The condition of the party wagon isn't built strong enough to withstand anything the kraang will throw at us. So today, training is canceled, so we can strengthen the party wagon, okay?". I nodded my head as I felt the headache finally disappear, leaving me pain-free, "Alright let's go!"

I slid my phone into my pocket and stood up from the couch, walking straight for the door out toward the barn. "I just wish we had more weapons, all we have are our individual weapons", I turned back to Leo after listening to his complaint, wondering for a fix as I stood in front of the barn door, "Well, I know where we can get some, but...". I turned toward April as I pulled open the door, slamming a large piece of wood in front of the door, making sure it stayed open, "But?". Walking toward the van, I jumped into the front and started up the vehicle, driving it straight in front of the barn, "But you're not going to like where they are", jumping out of the van, I slid the keys into my pocket, and walked back to the group, "Why, where are they? Is it the weapons, from the Shredder shipment?"

"No, it's the kid...", her words sounded awkward as she scratched the back of her neck, everyone went quiet, staring at April with the weirdest expression, "Yeah hell no, that kid pisses me off-"

"What weapons does he have?", Raph turned to Leo, "You aren't seriously thinking of talking to that kid?!", Donnie walked up to Leo and stood next to Raph, "I have to actually agree with Raph on this one, the kid acts like uh... I don't know he just seemed off". I looked at Leo, who stared at Donnie, crossing his arms, "なぜあなたがそのような態度をとるのかはわかっています...それは彼のお母さんが彼にエイプリルとデートしてほしいからですよね".

(I know why you're acting like this...it's because his mom wants him to date April isn't it)

I switched my gaze between the two, only understanding that Leo said something to Donnie that got under his skin. Donnie's eye twitched, his fist shaking as he looked at Leo, "No! It's because he's hiding the whereabouts of our brother, and-...Whatever! I'm gonna started working on the van!", I watched as Donnie walked away with his fist all balled up, "What was that all about, Leo". Leo sighed as he looked at April, "Nothing now, what type of weapons does the kid have", I looked at April, actually interested in the conversation, "Well I don't remember the names, but he has a lot, he brought all the weapons from their home, and there was a lot, but a lot of them looked like different designs of your guys. He has many types of swords, staffs, sais, and many more, but he keeps his two sets of weapons neatly with the rest until he needs them, his nun-chucks, and his...kamas, yeah, he only brings them out to go out or train-"

"Nun-chucks?! He fights with nun-chucks?", April jumped after hearing the question staring at the ground, "Yeah, his mom has been training him to master the weapons, so far he is fairly strong at those two"

Leo was quiet and walked into the barn, "This kid is sounding more and more like a duplicate of Mikey the more I hear about him, hm? How long does he train, maybe he can help us bring down the kraang", I joined the two and jumped as April laughed, "Yeah no, I'm sorry Leo, but the kid is determined to stay away from you three, and he trains for about 3-4 hours every day, depending on how long the girls sleep, however before, when he was with Mikey, your brother, he trained every day up until he left New York, for hours on end from what he told me".

"Do you know how long he knew Mikey? Well, our Mikey", April opened her mouth to answer Leo's question, when Raph interrupted her, "It couldn't have been that long, we all know Mikey couldn't lie to save his life". Leo sat on the couch, and stared at the van, "Did Mikey...that kid, ever talk about Mikey, our brother?"

"Mikey rarely talked about him, but when he did it was short and sweet", I listened to the conversation going on and on, confused as to who they were talking about, "Ugh, I'm still not used to two kids having the same exact name, and act the same as well, just for this convo, can we just call your brother Mikey, and our classmate Michael, cause the more this conversation goes on the more confused I get", Donnie was the only one who heard me as he heard me loudly whisper, grabbing my head as the headache began to grow again, "Ugh, I mean they're are literally the same person, both fight, like orange, fight with those nun-chucks, and they both know each other? I mean Michael is basically Mikey's dopelganger?!"

"Its Doppelganger, Casey. Doppelgangers' existence is quite rare, the likelihood of two people sharing similar features is less than 1 in 1 trillion, but the two doppelgangers, sharing similar personalities, hobbies, and lifestyles, is almost impossible", Donnie continued to talk, I noticed the group walk up behind Donnie listening to his words.

"So the impossible theory of a mutant and human sharing similar attributes did help the possibility that Mikey could be using the transformation cell to turn himself into Michael, however, after checking three weeks ago, our theory was quickly shut down after I noticed that he didn't have the crystal, but there were so many points that helped the theory, for instance, the amnesia, and the sickness, those are symptoms that occurred when the user held the crystal for a long duration. Mikey experienced the random sickness, and Michael remembers nothing about his past family, even though he was adopted almost half a year ago, I mean it just made the theory more and more plausible, right?!-"

"Donnie...what are you talking about?", I looked behind Donnie and cringed as Leo and Raph stood less than a foot away from him, "Donnie, I need you to explain what you just said to Casey to us, now", authority flowed through his voice as he spoke, "Well, Casey and I had a theory about Michael and Mikey".

"What theory?...", Apri's tone sour as she stared at Donnie, "Basically back when we went to the kid Michael's house after he left, I...", I stared at Donnie, as he messed with his fingers, finding the ground more interesting, "Look, April, I need you to understand that I didn't mean to be creepy, I was just checking to make sure you were ok, and I may...have heard...the entire conversation between you and the kid...", April's face contorted into fear as she stared him, "We already know that she called him, what about it?!". Donnie walked over to the couch and sat next to me, continuing to mess with his fingers, "I heard you tell him that we were coming over, as well as some other stuff...but there was one thing you said that confused me, what did you mean by 'There coming for you, human you'".

Everyone turned toward April, waiting for her answer, "Maybe you miss heard me, I told him that you guys were coming for you, why would I say human you, Mikey-, Michael is a human, and to answer about why he doesn't remember his past family is because he was abandoned by his old family when he was young and lived on streets up until Mrs. Shen found him a few months ago".

"But Donnie, what does any of this have to do with your theory", Donnie sighed, placing his hands into his lap, "Well, when Casey told me about the symptoms, I thought the symptoms sounded familiar", Donnie instantly jumped up from the couch, and ran toward his computer, typing almost fifty words a minute, "The kraang has been creating and manufacturing a new type of crystal called the transformation cell, basically the crystal has the power to transform any mutant, kraang, anything non-human into an actual human, turning their non-human genetics into human DNA and genes-"

"Get on with it!"

"Alright, fine! Casey noticed that Michael had a similar gem, that was turned into his necklace, so when Bigfoot brought him here, I checked his neck, and the necklace wasn't there, and he responded that he lost it when he escaped New York", Leo stared at the screen scrolling through the files of information about the crystal, "So why didn't you tell us this before we talked to him?!"

"Because I wanted to make sure that it was him, but it wasn't, I just didn't want to get our hopes up about the possibility that we finally found our brother!", Leo clicked out of all the taps, and shut the computer, turning toward Donnie, "Well, you just checked his neck, maybe he hid it somewhere else?!".

"Leo, this was our brother, Mikey, we're talking about! He wouldn't have known that we were going to check!-"

I sighed as I stood up, and walked passed April as she typed on her phone, walking out of the barn, 'God do they ever stop fighting, when was the last time we had an entire day where none of them fought'.

I began walking back to the house but stopped, and turned toward the forest, switching my gaze between the house and the trees, turning toward the forest and walking in exploring the unknown.

-------------------------

I continued to walk and walk, strolling tree after tree, I turned around to see the path I came, but it was gone, none of my previous footsteps showed in the dirt. I turned back around and started to walk, hoping to run into our neighbor or someone, anyone.

Ten minutes ago, I passed a small stream, probably just a foot deep, I listened to the sounds of the forest playing out, squirrels squeaking, the wind blowing, and even children laughing...

'Wait a minute'

I paused for a moment, and listened to my surroundings, 'There's no way I heard that correctly', I followed the sound only to stop as the laughter stopped, I continued to walk in the direction of the previous noise, and leaned against a tree, peaking around the side, frozen in place, 'Mikey was here...the whole time?', stunned as I watched the turtle walk to the center of the opening, bouncing over and over again.

"さて、マイキー、今日のトレーニングでは、ステルスを学びます"

(Alright, Mikey, for today's training, we are going to learn stealth) 

Mrs. Shen walked up to Mikey, taking away his nun-chucks, and... 'Michael's weapons, wait where's Michael?', I looked around the opening, but there was no sign of him, "Who's there?!", I flinched as Mrs. Shen spoke loudly, looking in my direction, she began walking closer to the tree, holding Mikey's weapon in one hand, and a carved cane in the other.

"Sorry, It's me, Casey!", I looked toward Mikey, his face covered in so much fear as he stood still in the middle of the opening, pulling his hands up to his chest, "Casey, what are you doing here!", her voice spoke with no room for question only answers, "I was...walking...Mikey, where have you been, you're brother's miss you-", I walked pass Mrs. Shen, walking closer and closer to Mikey, who stepped back each time I stepped closer to him, "-I can bring you back to them-"

"No", Mikey stared at me trembling, continuing to step away from me, "What do you mean, no? Heh, come on Mikey", I grabbed ahold of his arm only for him to pull me away, "My family's here, Casey, and...I'm not going back..."

"Mikey, you have to, everyone misses you-"

"But I don't!", Mikey breathed heavily as tears fell down his cheek, "I don't want anything to do with them...about that life, being treated like trash, putting me down for the smallest mistake! All of them treated me like I was the weakest, *sniff* even my own parent!"

"Parent? Oh my fucking god-, do you mean your father, Splinter, he was making you stronger, and so were your brothers, they wanted you to be and do the best you could! They were encouraging you, don't you see that!", Mikey turned away from me, and walked to his mom, "Then they did a terrible job, and since when was blaming me for their own mistakes, and punishing me for it, an encouragement, huh? Huh?!", I stared down at the turtle who grew a few inches over the year, sharing the same height as Leo, maybe even taller than him.

"God, when did you become such a brat...", my eyes widened as the words I thought, fell out of my mouth, making me regret them the moment I saw his face, turning into one of pure fear and sadness, looking away from me, tucking his face into Mrs. Shen's shirt, "Wait Mikey, I didn't mean-"

"Alright that's enough out of you", Mrs. Shen words spoke calmly, however, she walked towards me with aggression, dropping the weapon onto the floor, "Wait, Mrs. Shen, I'm sorry, I didn't mean-", she pressed her finger into my arm, making everything go dark, the last thing I remember was feeling my whole body slamming into the ground, leaving my side in lots of pain.

-------------------------

POV Tang Shen:

I stared down at the boy, staring at his unconscious body, "Mom, what did you do to him?!", Mikey ran up to the boy, visibly relaxing when he noticed the kid was still alive, "腕にはツボがあり、押すと相手がその場で眠りに落ちてしまうので、怪我をしていないので心配しないでください"

(Well there's a pressure point on the arm that if you press it will cause the other to fall asleep on the spot, so don't worry he isn't hurt)

Mikey looked up at me with the biggest smile on his face, I laughed as I could almost see the stars in his eyes in them as well.

"私はそれを学ぶことはありますか"

(Will I ever learn that) 

I laughed as I called the girls over, "もちろん、しかし私たちがそれ以上何かをする前に、私たちはケーシーを彼の家に連れて行かなければなりません、あなたは彼がどこに住んでいるか知っていますか?"

(Of course, but before we do anything more, we have to take Casey back to his home, do you know where he lives?)

He nodded his head as I through the kid on my back, stumbling a bit to not fall over. I turned toward the direction of our house, passing tree after tree, "お母さん、私は私が何をしようとしているのかわかりません、彼は知っています...彼はその家族に話すつもりです-"

(Mom, I don't know what I'm going to do, he knows...he's going to tell that family-)

"彼が目を覚ます前に私たちがそこに着いた場合ではなく、彼が目を覚ますとき、彼はこれがすべて単なる夢だと思うので、私たちがすることは彼の家に車で彼を木にもたれかねることだけですが、念のため、私はあなたにあなたのクリスタルを着てもらう必要があります大丈夫ですか?"

(Not if we get there before he wakes up, and when he does he'll think this is all just a dream, so all we'll do is drive to his house lean him against a tree, but just in case, I'm going to need you to put on your crystal okay?) 

Mikey nodded as we stepped out of the forest, standing in front of the house, I looked down at twins as the played with eachother even though they were being held in the baby sling, "実際、あなたはここにいて昼食を準備します、私は彼を連れ戻しますが、私に住所を送ってください"

(Actually, you stay here and prepare lunch, I'll take him back, but send me the address)

"よろしいですか、お母さん?私は来ることができます"

(Are you sure, Mom? I can come) 

I smiled at Mikey and walked toward the car, "フン、あなたはかなり荒れた一日を過ごしたと確信しています、今中に入って昼食を作ります"

(I'm sure hun, you've had a pretty rough day, now go inside and make lunch) 

He smiled and ran inside the house, shutting the door behind him, I walked toward the van and placed the kid in the passenger seat, bulking him in.

*Ding*

I walked to the other side as I pulled out my phone, and received the address to his house, 'Oh perfect, we're neighbors'. I started up the car and backed out of the driveway, turning down the dirt road onto the open highway. I continued to drive down the road, using my stronger leg to press the gas, I listened to the directions as I turned on the radio listening to the last station that was on.

~Dear Arkansas Daughter by Lady Lamb~

I drove down the road, continuing to drive down the straight concrete path, "うーん、かわいい歌"

(Hm. Cute song)

I switched my gaze between the road and my phone waiting for the directions.

Turn right in 300 feet, then the destination will be on your left

I looked over at the kid, snoring quite loudly as he leaned against the seat with his mouth wide open, I chuckled under my breath, almost remembering someone that acted similar, but I couldn't remember who...

I turned down onto the dirt road, driving up to the old home, that stood tall but clearly not managed. I pulled up as far as I could, and parked the car next to the trees, jumping out of the van and walking to the other side. Pulling the kid out, I carried him over to the nearest tree, and carefully leaned him against it, only to fall over on his face hitting the ground hard, "Oh my!"

"Mrs. Shen?", I quickly flinched and turned around, only to relax as April stared at me confused, looking behind me, "Oh my goodness, Hun, you scared me"

"Oh sorry, but what are you doing here?", I paused feeling a new set of eyes on me, a few actually, 'There far, probably in the barn or house'

"Well poor Casey wandered into the forest and found something..."

"You dont mean-", I quickly covered her mouth, eyeing my surroundings, the eyes are definitely near the barn, "Someone's watching keep your voice down", I whispered loud enough for the young girl to hear, receiving a nod back, I removed my hand, and stood to my full height. "Well, he suddenly collapsed randomly and Mikey has been telling me this kid smokes, so you better take care of him, would you like me to help you bring him inside?", April shook her head and walked toward Casey, checking him over, "I should be good"

"Alright", I turned around walking toward the van, "Oh, and April...make sure you emphasize that he saw his human form, alright? Goodbye Hun, and come over whenever we love having you". I opened the van door and closed it, shifting the gear back to drive, and making my way back home to my lovely children.

Chapter Text

A/N~ ALRIGHT EVERYONE!!! STORY ALERT AND STORY CHANGE!!!

So at the time of writing this chapter, I...found out I made an oopsy...let's just say a boo boo

While writing this chapter, I began doing some research and found out that...Shen isn't Tang Shen's Last name, in Japan, names are written a specific way different from American names. Japanese naming conventions arrange names as follows: [FAMILY NAME] [given name], such as Splinter's name, Hamato Yoshi, meaning his last name is Hamato, which means Tang Shen's last name is Tang, so from this point on, Mikey will be considered Tang Michaelangelo or Michaelangelo Tang by his classmates, friends, teachers, etc.

However, to keep it accurate, some people, such as myself, I kinda knew but I forget, the only reason I remembered was because of...anime. Now don't shame me and call me cringe, Anime is sick. Now like I was saying to keep it accurate, everyone is going to continue calling Tang Shen, Ms. Shen, except for April, in summary, April got confused about why Mikey's name was Michaelangelo Tang instead of Michaelangelo Shen, and asked why his last name was his mom's first name, so he explains just to her, and she fixes her mistake, and begins calling her Ms. Tang.

So from this point on, Mikey is Michaelangelo Tang and April is going to call Tang Shen, Ms. Tang.

Also, Mikey's nickname for April is going to be Saiki(S-eye-kee), and April's nickname for Mikey will be Gelo(Jello), for lore so it makes sense, over the months while Tang Shen was in a coma, Mikey brought up the topic of nicknames and decided to give each other a nickname, Mikey's based on the end of the first name, April also connects it with that like Mikey, jellos fun. April's however is based on her psychic powers, also kinda connected to the anime, "The Disastrous Life of Saiki K."

Now, sorry about the freaking PARAGRAPHS you had to read, now...I hope you enjoy the story <3

POV Tang Shen:

They're coming...

They're coming...

They're coming...

They're coming!...

They're coming!!!

THEY'RE COMING!!!

THEY'RE COMING!!!

*Gasp*

I quickly sat up and looked around, scanning the area, but there was nothing, the house was gone, and the kids were gone, I was alone... in the middle of a barren field, a field surrounded by a dark...dark forest.

こんにちは。！誰かいる?!

(Hello?! Anyone there?!)

I continued to turn around, spinning...searching for anything, I turned around and froze for a moment, in the middle of the field sat my three children, smiling amongst each other. My pace was slow, walking closer and closer to my kids, seeing them turn to me, waving me over. My pace quickened and jogged toward them, only to be slowed down as three figures walked out of the dark forest, sprinting toward the kids. The kids smiled at me, waving me over to join them.

MIKEY 注意して下さい！！！

(W ATCH OUT!!!)

I watched as one of the dark figures picked Mikey up, carrying him off to the forest.

彼を放して！！！

(LET HIM GO!!!)

"Mama!", Mikey called for me and reached for me, I looked down, trying to pull my feet up, my body stuck in the ground. I looked back, frozen as the other two figures picked up the twins, picking Jennika up first...then Lita after, taking them all where Mikey was carried.

彼らを手放してください、ゴッドダムニット!!!私の子供たちを行かせてください!!!

(LET THEM GO, GODDAMNIT!!! LET MY CHILDREN GO, PLEASE!!!)

I tried even harder, trying to push myself out of the ground, tears fell down my face as I lost more of my own children...unable to save them, just like the first. I looked down at the ground, watching the ground slowly swallow me whole, already all the way up to my waist.

お願いします...彼らを手放す...彼らはただの子供です...彼らは私の子供です...彼らを行かせてください、モンスター!!!

(Please...let them go...they're just children...they're my children...LET THEM GO YOU, MONSTER!!!)

十分...

(Enough...)

I stopped at the sound of a deep yet feminine voice speaking above me, I looked up from the ground as a tall dark figure stood over me, peering down at me.

なぜ反撃するの...あなたは彼らを守れない...

(Why do you fight back...you can not protect them...)

Tears continued to fall down my face, mixing with the dirt below as it pressed its foot into my back, pushing harder and harder into the ground.

でも、私にはできる...私が彼らを守るから、行かせてください！

(But I can...I will protect them, let me go, please!!!)

I groaned as it pressed harder, pushing me farther into the dirt. My eyes stung from the excessive crying, and my eyes were swollen.

お願いします...お願いします、これを修正させてください...私の間違いを修正させてください...それらを保存させてください...

(Please...please, just let me fix this...let me fix my mistakes...let me save them...)

The pressure stopped the moment I spoke those words, it looked down at me, glaring at my trembling body, as I glared at it's shadowed face as well.

何が彼らをそんなに特別にするのか...

(What makes them so special...)

My gaze softened as tears fell down its face, falling to the ground.

何が彼らをそんなに特別にするのか...自分の血と肉さえ救うことができないほど!

(What makes them so special...that you couldn't even save your own flesh and blood!)

The ground below me softened underneath me, I pushed myself up from the cage that held me and stared at the figure, noticing that it was smaller than me, the voice becoming more softer...

*Sniff* どうしてママ...どうして私を助けてくれなかったの？

(Why Mama...why didn't you save me?)

I stood frozen staring at the small figure, as it stared up at me, tears continuing to fall.

Miwa...I-I...私はあなたを救おうとしたが、家中を隅々まで探し回った後、あなたはいなくなってしまった...火がますます明るく燃え上がる中でも私は探した...より激しくなった...

(I tried to save you, but after I searched every inch of the house, you were gone...I searched even as the fire burn brighter...harsher...)

If my eyes could cry they would, but my eyes ran dry as I stared down at the figure that reached for my cheek, touching the burn that reminded me every day of my sin.

私が言うことができる...

(I can tell...)

I flinched as she quickly wrapped her arms around me, hugging me as tight as she could.

彼らを守ってください、お母さん...彼らが来ます

(Protect them Mom...they're coming)

---------------------------

*Gasp*

I quickly sat up, and looked around the room, searching for any intruders, only to find the room empty, barren of any intruders. 'My children!', I jumped out of the bed, and threw the sheets off of my body, racing for the door. I quickly opened the door and kept it still, making sure no sound was made, I race towards the kid's bedroom and stopped, trembling as I reached for the door. I turned the knob and pushed the door open, peeking into the dark room barely lit by the night light in the far corner, lighting the room in a soft purple tint.

Sneaking into the room, I checked on the crib, but stopped, frozen as I noticed something, the crib was empty. My body trembled as I searched the room, lifting the blankets in the crib, even searching the closet, I quickly checked Mikey's bed, only to instantly relax as I noticed Mikey sleepy comfortably with the twins, cuddled up against him, Jennika snuggling into his belly and Lita cuddling into her sister with Mikey's arm carefully resting over them, protecting them from harm.

I fell to my knees as my voice trembled under my breath, staring at the small sleeping children, sleeping softly amongst themselves.

I stood to my feet and walked out of the room, quietly shutting the door behind me, and walking back to my room. 'I need to train...', I changed into some workout clothes, a pair of shorts, a tank top, and tennis shoes, I walked over to the bathroom, and brushed through my hair, combing out the small knots that grew from the nightmare that just occur. I tied my hair into a low ponytail and braided the tail, tying it off at the end, I stared in the mirror as guilt filled my mind, my cheeks, my arms, my legs...my body, covered in burns, reminding me of the nightmare...reminding me of my sin.

I slapped my cheeks and walked out of the bathroom, making my way to the spare room that held the weapons. I scanned over the vast armory of weapons, deciding the weapon and reaching over to the far side of the bed. I decided to go with the kyoketsu shoge, bouncing the weight in my palm. Picking up its holster, I buckled it into place, sliding the weapon in, I pulled out my phone, and scrolled to the messages, opening the chat between Mikey and me, and sending him a quick text.

I grabbed my cane and pouch as I walked through the front door, locked it behind me, and stepped down the porch, pulling out my weapon, bouncing the weight of the handle in my hand, and wrapping the rope around my arm. I walked into the forest, listening to the silent woods, the early morning sky peeked over the top of the trees, the forest still quite dark. I tossed the blade into the air and caught it over and over. Up ahead I could see the opening, I continued to walk, and passed by many trees, listening to the soft wind blow by, moving the small hair away from my face.

I walked into the open ring, and placed my cane and bag off to the side, leaning them against a tree as I walked toward the center, swinging the blade around, from one side to the other, slowly releasing the rope until it reached its full length, and swung the blade back and forth, then suddenly chucked the blade at the dirt, 'Let's get started...'.

---------------------------

~Two Hours Later~

Someone's been watching...for ten minutes now a pair of eyes have been watching me train, I tried looking around as I did, but they were hidden well. I stood still as I tried to catch my breath, and walked over to pick up my weapon as my leg cramped up, causing me to fall to my knees. I froze as the stranger's feet landed on the ground, racing toward me, I grabbed my rope and yanked the blade back, turning over as I aimed the blade at them, my breath labored as I stared at the strange turtle, 'this has to be one of Mikey's siblings'.

"Whoa calm down ma'am, I'm not going to hurt you-"

"Then why have you been watching me for ten minutes"

"Wait, how did you-", I pushed myself off the ground and walked over to my cane as I dusted myself off, "Here let me help you", the small turtle ran off to the side, picking up my cane and running back, handing it over. "Thank you...", I leaned against the tree and slid down it as I sat down, "Now would you like to tell me who you are and what you doing here, watching me train", I chuckled as the small turtle sat in front of me, fiddling with his fingers, "I'm Leonardo, I wanted to explore the forest one last time before going home, but when I came back here to meditate, I saw you training and decided to watch", reaching toward the bag I brought, I pulled out my old thermo flask, pouring the fresh tea into the lid, and handing it over to the turtle, giving him a gentle smile, "Oh thank you", he grabbed the lid, and began to drink from it, visibly relaxing, "How are you not scared...".

"Of what", he looked up at me, as I took another sip, "Of me, a lot of humans they...the moment they see me or my brothers, they scream, running away", I chucked as I brought the flask down to my lap, "Well just so you know, you're not the first. Back in Japan, I met a few Kappas, that blessed me with great knowledge. And as for here, my children are turtles, my youngest are twins, little Lita and Jennika, and I have a son, who's helped care for them during my absence, his name is Michaelangelo, he however is human".

"Oh, so that kid is your son...", I nodded as I took another sip of the tea, "Yeah, he is, he's a lovely kid, it was such a shame I found him homeless, in an alleyway, it was so sad, I found him laying on the ground vomiting, and seizing on the ground, protecting his pet cat, so I decided to take him in", I pulled out my phone and checked the time, "Oh shoot, it's 7:50! I'm sorry, hon, but I need to go-"

"Wait, do you know how he became homeless?!", I stood to my feet, and pushed on my back, listening to the soft pops, then stretched to my full height, "To my knowledge he lived on the streets for...ten months before I found him". I rolled up the rope around my arm, and picked up my satchel, tossing it over my shoulder. "Oh, uh here, uhh..what's your name?..."

"Thank you and it's Shen, Tang Shen, well I really need to go, bye Leonardo, get home safe", I turned around and walked back to the house, passing by each tree, leaving the turtle alone.

---------------------------

POV Leo:

'It was her, Master Splinter's wife... she was alive?!' I quickly turned around, racing toward the house, everything passed by so quickly, the trees, the stream, everything, feeling the wind quickly rush by, blowing the sweat away from my face. I ran out of the forest and raced for the house, running straight for the upstairs bathroom, shoving the door open, and falling to my knees, I hung my head over the toilet as I emptied my stomach, hurling the contents into the toilet, "Wha...Leo are you okay?!", April walked over to my side, rubbing my shell as I finished, wiping my mouth dry.

"Get away from me", I hung my head over the toilet, feeling nausea overcome me, "You lied to us", I glared at April, breathing heavily as the nausea grew stronger by the second. "Wha-, What are you talking about-"

"She told me!", instantly the rest of the food that was left in my stomach ended up in the toilet, I wiped my face off and stood to my feet, "Tang Shen! Splinter's Wife!". Shock covered her face as she heard the name, making the anger inside grow more, "So you knew about that?! You knew Sensei's wife was alive, and you told us nothing! Well she told me, that Michael didn't live on the streets his whole life, he only was there for ten months!". April backed away, stepping toward the bathroom exit, "Wait when did you meet-"

"It doesn't matter, April! You lied! What else have you been lying about, huh?!", I glared at her only for her to look down, "The moment we get back, I'm telling Master Splinter about this, he needs to know that his wife is alive-"

"No!-"

"GUY!", I turned my gaze toward Raph as he busted through the door standing in front of April, glaring at me and April, "What the fuck is going on?".

"It's none of your business, we have to get everything ready, come on let's go", I pushed past Raph and glared down at April, "We're gonna finish this conversation later", I whispered, quietly my words full of venom, and turned toward the bedroom, starting off with the sheets, and pulling them off the bed. "Dude, what is going on with you?! You come into the house, and run straight for the bathroom, vomiting like crazy, then you yell at April", I picked up the sheets and walked toward Raph, shutting the door quietly behind him.

"It's April, Raph! Early this morning I wanted to go out and meditate in an opening I found a little bit ago, but when I got there, there was this women training, I'm not sure what weapons she was using was called, but she fell, I went to help her-"

"Oh my god-, just get to the point already!", I took a deep breath, and looked at Raph, "April knew that Michael's mom, was Splinter's supposedly dead wife. April knew and she never told any of us?!", I started to freak out again as I felt nausea grow in my gut again, traveling up my throat. "Are you sure it was her, it could have-"

"Yes Raph, it was Splinter's wife, she looked identical to the photo! The only difference was the burns covering her body!", Raph down at the ground, his eyes switching around, "We'll talk about this to Donnie later, for now, let's get this all cleaned up first", Raph quickly nodded and left the room, leaving the door wide open. I followed after him as I carried the sheets, and walked downstairs, making my way over to the small laundry room, and tossing the sheets into the machine. I ran upstairs and walked into the bathroom, grabbing a rag and spray, walking back into my bedroom, and shutting the door behind me.

I walked up to the window ceil, spraying the liquid over each window, cleaning off each surface. I gazed out the window, watching birds and large bugs fly by, that was until I saw April leave the house with the phone up against her face. I carefully lifted the window ceil, listening to April's call.

"Hey, Gelo I just wanted to let you know, me and the guys are heading back to New York today...Yeah, I'll be fine, but hey did you know that one of the guys saw your mom...", April walked back and forth, creating footprints in the dirt. "No not Casey, Leo...the blue one?! Yes, *sigh* sorry, he just confronted me today, and I'm just tired, but are you fine if I stop by before I have to leave?...", she stopped and tapped her foot. "Awesome, I'll come to visit soon, I want to say bye to the girls...yes yes, and you too, now I got to go, I have to clean the kitchen and my bedroom, cause it's a mess, see you later", she quickly hung up the phone and stuck the device in her pocket, walking back inside, 'I need to think of something'.

I quickly walked out of the bedroom, noticing Raph in the bathroom, "Hey, as soon as we're done cleaning we're heading out", he gave me a thumbs up and continued cleaning the bathroom. I walked down the steps, and saw Donnie mopping the stairs, trying to impress April, "Hey, you two! As soon as we finish cleaning were gonna head out, okay?", Donnie agreed and continued his tasks, I looked over at April who stared at me, "Hey uh Leo, before we leave I gonna go say bye to Mikey er- Michael-".

"No, we can stop by his house on the way home", I walked down the stairs and strolled right into the kitchen, grabbing the trashcan, "But!-".

"No April, you should be happy that I'm letting you...we still need to discuss everything about that kid", I started picking up trash, tossing them into the garbage, "Now come on guys, let's get this done".

---------------------------

~Three Hours Later~

"Alright, just carefully place all the equipment right up against the front seats, and strap them in with the bungee cords!", Donnie yelled as he organized the equipment in boxes, handing them one by one to us, I turned around carrying a box full of glass and chemicals, stopping in front of the open door, and sliding the box across the floor. I tied down the box and went back to grab another, we continued to do this carrying each box one by one until Donnie carried the last box, an amount of ten boxes in total placed in the back of the van.

"Alright, I locked up the house, Casey, Donnie, did one of you guys lock up the barn?"

"Yeah, I locked it when Donnie walked out, and I checked there's nothing else in there?", Casey finished and walked to the driver seat, quickly buckling his seat belt. "Alright everyone get into the van, and Casey?", I jumped into the van and sat on the installed chairs, tightening my seat belt, "April, wants to stop by that kid's place, so we're gonna stop there, let her say bye, then head out". Casey without turning around, gave me the thumbs up, starting up the van.

I stared out the window, watching us drive away from our temporary home, driving right onto the open road. I pulled out my phone as my T-phone vibrated and opened the group chat between me, Donnie, and Raph, checking my most recent text.

---------------------------

Raph>:[: So why are we stopping by this kid's house, none of us like him

DonnieB) : You just hate him, because he reminds you too much of Mikey

Raph>:[: Bro you hate him too!

Me: Yeah, because the kid's mom wants him to date, April~

DonnieB) : WHATEVER, SO WHY ARE WE GOING THERE

Raph>:[: Uh oh, someone mad

Me: We're going because she wants to say bye, plus I need you guys to see his mom, once you see her, you'll see it

DonnieB) : See what?

Raph>:[: Leo, went out this morning and ran into his mom, and discovered that his mom is actually Splinter's supposed to be dead wife

Me: Yeah, I thought it was just a coincidence, but it's actually her

Me: We're here, if she walks out, look at her

---------------------------

I looked up from my phone as Casey parked in front of the house, I peeked through the windows, watching Michael and his mom walking out of the house, each one carrying a baby turtle. April jumped out of the car and ran over to the kid, quickly picking up the small green turtle. I looked back at the kid's mom, noticing she had a mask on her face, all of her scars covered in some sort of clothing, "Dang you can't see her face", I whispered as I continued to stare at her, freezing as her gaze turned in our direction, placing her hand on Michael's shoulder, continuing to stare at not me, not Raph, not Donnie, but Casey, glaring at him as he stared at April, turning his gaze away, "Casey, what was that...".

"Nothing..., she just...it's nothing", Casey, tapped his finger on the wheel, "Alright, April come on we need to go!", April turned back toward the van, then turned back to them, giving each one a quick hug before she walked back to the car, only to be followed by Michael's mom, walking to her side of the car. She waited for April to buckle her seat and closed the door leaning against it, "I hope you kids have a safe drive back home", she looked into the back switching her gaze between the three of us, before smiling and turning her gaze back to April, "Well, April, text Mikey when it's safe to go back, and when you win, you can come over and have some dinner with the kids, anyways I should go. Bye, April! Bye, Leonardo! Bye, Casey! Bye, you two in the back!"

I watched as she walked back to the house, closing the door behind her, Casey swung around and stared at me, "Yo, how does she know your name?!"

"I met her this morning on accident", Casey continued to stare at me, "What?! How did you not get hurt?!"

"Get hurt?! What are you even talking about?!", Raph yelled and leaned against the side of the van, "Last time I saw her she knocked me out!-"

"For the last time, that didn't happen, when she dropped you off, she told me that-"

"THAT I FAINTED FROM TOO MUCH WEED, I KNOW!!! BUT SHE'S FUCKING LYING!!!", though the windows were shut, I could have sworn Michael's Mom looked over her shoulder, looking straight at the van, "God Casey, can you just drive", Donnie whines as he pinched his snout, squeezing his eyes tight. Mumbling something under his breath, Casey turned around and started up the car, turning down the dirt road onto the open road, beginning our long drive back to New York.

Chapter Text

~Two Weeks Later~

POV April:

"Come guys keep fighting!!! Remember our goal!!!", I ran towards the multitude of kraang droids that aimed their guns toward us, shooting down all our attacks as we pressed on. I ran across the concrete road, swiping the sharp end of the tessen across the neck of the kraang, making droid after droid fall to the ground. I sprinted over the collapse bots, seeing the TCRI building not far ahead, I continued to run down the street, running passed building after building, until I finally stopped at the entrance of TCRI, running straight through the front door. "Come on! Let's go!", I yelled as I ran inside, charging toward the elevator, prying open the doors.

Pulling out my grappling hook, I aimed it toward the top of the lift and shot the clip, listening until a loud clank sounded, letting me know that the hook was attached. Doubling clicking the trigger, suddenly in a quick tug, the grappling gun pulled me up, pulling me to the very top of the elevator shaft, reaching the needed floor. I held onto the rope as I looked down below me, noticing that no one followed, no turtles, no Casey, not even any kraang. Pulling out my tessen, I pried my fingers and the weapon in between the metal doors, shoving the doors wide open. "Come on April!!!", Down the wide corridor, Donnie ran towards me, carrying a large canister of retro-mutagen, "I need to get to the top of TCRI and spray down the whole city with the retro-mutagen, however, I need you to search for the power cell and destroy the portal, you may be the only one able to break the force field".

"WAIT?! WHAT?! YOU WANT ME TO DO THIS BY MYSELF! I THOUGHT LEO OR CASEY WAS GOING TO JOIN ME?!", I ran down the long hallways, passing the multitude of prison cells, still locked and filled with mutants, "Change of plans, we need all hands on deck to help New York City, all mutant kind is going to come to the top of the building including Casey, I haven't tested on an actual human that hasn't been mutated to see the reaction yet! Now come on, the others are already making their way to the top of the building!", I ran alongside Donnie, running through the barren halls, seeing no droid in sight.

Donnie came to a halt, switching his gaze from right to left, "The main laboratory is down this hallway, I need you to remember to destroy the force field and bring the power cell back to me", I nodded quickly as I turned into the hall, switching my gaze over the glass windows, looking for the needed lab. I continued to run down the long hallways, turning left then right, but none of the labs held the portal to dimension X, nothing looked familiar to Donnie's explanation. 'Come on where is it?!', the longer I ran, the more the environment changed, after some time I no longer saw the laboratories, instead down the hallway stood a door that sat barely peaked open, the inside glowing a beautiful bright purple and pink light mixture.

"What the...", I walked down the hallway that seemed darker than the rest, illuminated by the large amount of light coming from behind the door, I pushed the door open only to see tiny kraang crystals, placed in small boxes, almost as if the kraang was throwing them away. "Maybe Donnie can see what it is. Wait a second, it actually almost looks like...", I froze as I stared at the crates full of gems, reaching to touch the small crystal, "Angie's crystal...". I quickly turned around to see Jason standing near the door, slowly he walked up to the box, staring at the gems. He began to reach for one only for me to stop him instantly, "You can't touch them!".

Jason yanked his arm away and backed away, staring up at me with the most confused face, "These crystals have nasty side effects, do you remember the day Mikey got sick?", Jason nodded as he leaned against the wall, "Yeah, Leo was super pissed at me for coming over to hang out with Angie...hey how did you know about his crystal...wait...how's uh...he doing by the way?". He spoke awkwardly as he rubbed the back of his neck, looking at the ground, I placed my hand on the gecko's shoulder, "I'll tell you later, but for now we need to find and destroy the portal now come on!", I pushed open the door only to see Slash standing outside the door with his arms crossed staring down at me, "So you did know about, their brotha'".

"Wait, please slash!-", he raised his hand, silencing me, "Don't bother, I know the whole story, this short stack, spilled the beans a few days after Michaelangelo ran away, and don't worry, I ain't tellin'", I looked over at Jason as he rubbed the back of his neck, awkwardly looking away, "Thanks, Slash...now come one, we have a portal to destroy". I turned down the hallway and continued my search, still not seeing any sign of the labs, "UGH! Have you guys seen any signs of a lab with a portal?".

"Oh yeah! This way!", Jason climbed onto Slash's shell, pointing down the hallway, Slash sped down the corridor, following the gecko's directions, I chased after the two, and scanned the hallways we passed, confused to see no droids in sight, "Hey, guys where are the Kraang droids?!"

"Does it matter! Easy sailing from here!", Jason laughed out loudly as Slash turned the last corner, running in front of the laboratory, I sprinted past the two and ran inside, searching for a way to turn off the force field. "April, hurry! Look around!", I searched around and noticed a large computer on the far side of the room, lighting up the dimly lit area. I ran up to the computer and noticed a large cord leading from the computer all the way to the portal, kneeling down close to the wire I tapped on the cord, 'The force fields only protecting the portal!'. I pulled out my tessen and scanned the room, "SLASH! JASON!", the ground quaked from behind me, "What's up?!"

"I have a plan, but I need you guys to look for the power cell, it has to be somewhere in here or nearby. After I destroy the force field, and you two find the power cell, come back and help me destroy this thing", Slash instantly nodded and ran off with Jason on his back, searching for the hidden gem. Raising my tessen above my head, I sliced the cord, slashing back and forth, tearing away the top layer, and having a full view of the inner wires. I swiped over and over, slowly tearing through the many wires.

Reaching into my pocket, I pulled out my small blade and began cutting through the wire, noticeably more effective than the fan. I sawed through the wires, inches of wires left, "April! We found it! Did you take the forcefield down!", I felt sweat falling down my forehead as I pressed the blade harder against the cords, "Almost-", with one final swipe I cut through the final wire, hearing the quiet electrical sound of the force field shutting down.

"It's done!-", Slash quickly ran toward the portal and slammed his mace down onto the surface, smashing the machine over and over, I looked over at Jason who held the power cell, holding it close to his chest. I ran toward him as Slash continued his destruction, "Do you think we should destroy this thing", motioning to the large crystal in his arms, he looked down at the casing that held the gem, switching his gaze between it and me. "No, Donnie told me to bring it to him afterwards"

"Probably...", I looked over to Slash as he continued to smash the noticeably destroyed portal, "Hey, Slash!-", I pointed at the large computer that sat on the far side of the room, completely out of the way, "-Destroy the computer, while you're at it!", Slash span around and charged toward the computer, crushing the machine under his weapon.

I looked back at Jason only to notice him rubbing his thumb over the glass, showing a visibly upset expression, "You okay Jason?", his thumb movements stopped, and he lowered himself to the ground, hugging the glass casing tight in his chest, "How's Angie?...". I brought my hands together as my thumb rubbed against the other, "He's happy...he actually no longer lives on the streets, he lives in a nice home with his new family...the mom actually lets him go to school". Jason looked up at me with so much shock in his eyes, "Really?"

"Really...but hey I know you feel bad for what you said, and I may not know exactly what you said but what I do know is that you regret what you said, right?", nodding his head as he looked back down on the crystal, "I...I was just angry, I looked over the trauma he went through...when I heard him say that he ran away from his family...a family that I thought respected and accepted him, made me so mad...my own family kicked me out and abandoned me the moment they saw me-...saw this! I didn't mean to say that...the trauma he went through registered too late, after I called him a brat for that he was gone, he didn't see any of us after what I said, not me, not Slash, not even Leatherhead...Leatherhead has been struggling with his disappearance, shutting all of us out...I-I thought maybe Angie left town using his crystal as a disguise...can...can you tell him I'm sorry for what I said, April?"

Jason never made eye contact as he spoke his sorrows, quiet sniffles coming from him as he tightened his grip on the crystal, I placed my hand on his shoulder and felt him flinch until he relaxed under my touch, "How about this, I'll give you his number, let him know it's you and just explain everything, okay?", he nodded his head and rubbing away at his cheek. "Do you think he'll actually talk to me?"

"Well-", we both quickly turned around as Slash was behind us, carrying his mace over his shoulder, and breathing heavily, "-If this is the Mikey we know, I think he'll listen to you. Actually is he in New York?", I shook my head as I stood up, peeking around Slash to see a completely destroyed computer. "No, he's a while away with his new family"

"New family?!", I chuckled as Slash yelled, "Yeah, a mom and twin baby sisters, and get this the twins...are mutant turtles!", I squealed the last part as I pulled out my phone, pulling up the photo of Jennika and Lita, and showing it off to the two, "Dude what a freaking coincidence, what's their names", I slipped my phone into my pocket as I turned toward Jason, "The green one is Jennika and the white one is Lita"

I picked up the power cell, leaving the laboratory with Jason and Slash on my tail, "But here's the interesting part, his mom's name...Tang Shen", Jason stared at me confused, however, Slash was shocked, "As in Master Splinter's wife, Tang Shen?!"

"Yeah, she survived the fire and came to New York, which is such a coincidence-"

"Actually it's not, from what I remember before I became this, I remember Splinter talking about how his dead wife, always wanted to come to New York, so as a last-ditch effort, he flew all the way here", I turned toward Slash as he picked up Jason, placing him on his shoulder, "Awww, that's so sweet"

"Yeah, well we better get going and help out the others", Slash ran past me, and raced down the hallway, I chased after the two, sprinting faster and faster down the long corridors, turning left then right, until finally, we reached the elevator, I stood my ground as I stared at the elevator, that was surrounded by many droids, aiming their guns toward us. I clung to the power cell close to my chest as I charged toward the droids, pulling my blade out, I sliced my blade through the bots, falling immediately to the ground, kraang creatures squealing and crawling away from the scene.

I quickly turned around towards the rest of the fight, noticing Jason being severely beaten up, surrounded by a multitude of kraang droids, "Jason!", I ran toward the swarm, picking up a spare gun that laid on the ground, aiming the barrel straight for the crowd of bots, "Ay Kraang!", I began shooting each individual bot, missing a few times. Slash ran passed me, and swung his mace at the hoard of droids, destroying all of them in a single swing. I dropped the gun and fell next to Jason, checking over his body for any wounds, "Jason, are you okay?!"

"Yeah, dudette, I'm fine", he breathed out heavily as I helped him up, resting him gently against the wall, "Just a little sore...". Slash's hands reached over me as he picked up Jason, throwing him onto his shoulder, I stood to my feet and followed Slash as he walked down the hallway, leading me to who knows where "The guys are on the rooftop, come on I know the way", I sped up and walked beside him, staring down the quiet hallway, and carrying the power cell. "Hey Jason, can I see your phone?", with a struggle and visible pain he finally pulled out his phone, carefully handing it over to me.

I pulled out my phone as I grabbed his own and opened my contacts, scrolling straight to Mikey's number, switching my gaze back and forth on each phone, slowly typing the number into Jason's phone. Shoving my phone back into my pocket, I handed his phone back into his lazily dangling hand, "Make sure no one else finds out he's in New York, the brothers still think he left the city", he nodded as he started typing on his phone, whether that was texting him or adding his contact information, I had no idea.

"Alright through the vent let's go-"

"Wait, how are you going to fit?!", Slash placed Jason on my back, picked both of us up, and placed us into the vent, "I'll take the elevator, now listen, two lefts, straight three tunnels, right once, then you keep walking until there is a vent opening above your head, go through there and your home free, now hurry", I placed the power cell in first rolling it away so I had room to move. Pulling my spare hoodie off I tied it around my waist and Jason, making sure he was secure and snug against my back. I followed the route Slash gave me, taking the two lefts, struggling to bring the power cell along, but, glad that Jason was super light even though he was passed out from exhaustion, his arms dragging across the ground, making a long noise as it continued. I journeyed down the metal path, and crawled straight down the tunnels, turning right until finally, I saw the vent up ahead as well as some voices heard from above.

"Should we go back inside, it's taking longer than it should...I'm going in!-", the vent cover above me was yanked off, showing three very tired and shocked turtles, "April! Did you do it?!", I reached under my arm and pulled out the power cell placing it straight into Leo's hands, "The portal *huff* *huff* is destroyed...move I need to get this dude off me". The three finally moved out of the way, I reached up and pulled myself out of the vent, falling straight onto my stomach with Jason still tied to my back. "Is it over *Huff* *Huff* did we win?!"

"Yep, now come on we need to go make sure everyone in the city was turned back, come one"

-------------------------------

'As we searched through the city, and looked for any citizens that were still kraangified, turning them all back to their original form, whether that was humans, or animals'

I left the group and scanned the streets for my father, but he was nowhere to be found. Not where I left him, not near the turtle's home, not even at my home. I pulled out my phone and called his number, scanning the streets with a spare supply of retro mutagen, just in case, I looked down each alley, passing each one over and over, seeing no sign of him, until I saw him...kraangified and shivering in the far end of the alley, staring at the ground below him.

"Dad???", I slowly pulled out the retro mutagen and sprayed him down, causing him to retreat into the corner, hissing loudly, "It's alright Dad, you'll be better soon!", the tentacles on his body fell to the ground, the yellow eyes protruding from his head disappearing until all that was left was my father. I lowered the sprayer and looked over my father, "Dad?...".

"A- *Huff* *Huff* April", he turned up to me, still kneeling down onto his hands, barely able to keep himself, "Dad!", I knelt to the ground and hugged him, feeling small streams of tears fell down my cheek. " Oh my gosh Dad, I never thought I would see you again *sniff*", he lent himself against the wall, pulling me into a weak trembling hug. "It's alright *Huff* can you *Huff* take me home, please", I carefully lifted my dad over my shoulder, "Sure Dad...".

-------------------------------

POV Mikey:

"Baba! Baba!", Lita pulled me closer and closer to the familiar small stream, "Sweet pea, ack-, Oh my goodness, come here!!!", I picked her up and began running toward the creek, I spun on my heel, seeing mom far behind with Jennika in her arms, who in turn looked just as excited, looking at mom as she pointed toward us, "さあおかあさん!"

(Come on, Mom!)

"ゆっくりして、マイキー!昨日杖から降りたばかりです!"

(Slow down, Mikey! I just got off of my cane yesterday!)

I ran backward with Lita's back pressed against my belly. "マイキー！注意して下さい！-"

(Mikey! Watch out!-)

Before her words could click, my foot got caught on a root, causing me to fall clumsily onto my butt. I pulled Lita close to my chest and rubbed my rump, trying to rub away the soreness, "Lita, you good-", Lita broke into loud laughter, clapping her hands as she turned toward me, crawling up and reaching for my face, "Again! Again!". I chuckled as I sighed out a breath of relief and leaned my head back onto the ground, glad that she was alright.

"Mikey! 大丈夫ですか！

(Are you alright!)

I looked up and chuckled as Lita continued to laugh, bouncing up and down on my chest, "ええ、ただ後ろの痛み"

(Yeah, just a sore behind) 

Lita crawled over me and ran away, I pushed myself up, dusting myself off as I followed her down to the stream. Mom caught up and walked next to me, "あなたはあなたがどこに向かっているのかを見なければなりません フン、あなたはあなたの頭を傷つけたかもしれません"

(You have to watch where you're going hun, you could have hurt your head)

I looked down at Jennika and nodded my head, chuckling as she reached down with one hand, pointing at the stream with the other. "さあ、楽しんでください、私は毛布をセットアップするつもりです、私はすぐそこにいます"

(Now go have fun, I'm gonna set up the blanket, I'll be right there)

She tapped my back, nudging me toward the stream. I leaned over and picked up Jennika, racing toward Lita, "Come here you little stinker". I picked her up and quickly stepped into the water, sliding down to my butt, and placing the two into the water, only for them to splash at me back, evilly giggling as they stared at me, "Why you little-"

I quickly reached for the twins, watching them squirm away from me, I picked up Lita and placed her into my lap, tickling her neck aggressively, "It's over small one! MUHAHAHA!", she squealed louder, pushing against me trying to get away, "You're mine! Hahaha!", I turned to the side seeing Jennika covering her mouth, giggling behind me, "Now where do you think you're going, you punk!" I scoped Jennika out from behind me and placed her in my lap, tickling her neck as well.

"There's no one who can save you from Mikey the Big Brother! Muhahahaha!"

"Mikey!", I turned around pausing on the tickle session, letting the small ones take a slight breather, "What's up Mom?!"

"エイプリルがあなたを呼んでいます、ここで私は彼女をスピーカーに置きます"

(April's calling you, here I'll put her on speaker)

I gave her a thumbs up as she walked up, pulling off the sandals, and dipping her feet into the stream.

-------------------------------

Me(Mom): "Hey April, how are you and the others"

April⭐: "Oh hello Ms. Tang, is Mikey around"

Me: "Right here! I'm playing with the twins in the stream!- Hey get back over here! Ack! Hey, say hi, sissy's on the phone!"

Me(Twins): "Hi sissy!

April⭐: "Hey Jennika! Hey Lita!"

Me: Hey Saiki, so why did you call, is everything going well in the fight against the Kraang?"

April⭐: "That's actually why I'm calling you...we did it! We won! We stole the power cell and turned everyone back into humans!"

Me(Mom): "Did anyone get hurt?! Are you okay?! You sound out of breath"

April⭐: "Yeah, I'm fine, I just carried my dad all the way home"

Me(Mom): "Well why didn't any of those boys help you, like...oh what was his name, ah yes Leonardo!"

April⭐: "..."

Me: "..."

Me(Mom): "What?...Hun, what's wrong?"

Me: "Who's Leonardo?"

Me(Mom): "One of the turtles that stayed with April"

Me: "But when?-"

April⭐: "It was the day, we left...he saw her early that morning, he actually confronted me that day...he was really angry"

Me(Mom): "What?! Oh no, April you shouldn't be with people that yell at you"

April⭐: "I know, but like I can't just leave them. I go to school with Casey, and he knows them, plus their father trains me-"

Me(Mom): "Then I'll train you, that man only trains his students to master one weapon! What weapon do you have"

April⭐: "A tessen...that's it"

Me: " Wait, Mom, are you actually going to train her?!"

Me(Mom): "Only if she wants to, if she does, you'll get a new training partner"

April⭐(???): "April *cough* *cough* who are you calling"

April⭐: "Oh Dad, just my friend! Hey, my Dad's up, gotta go. Bye!"

Me(Everyone): "Bye!!!"

-------------------------------

I looked at my phone as I thought over the conversation, feeling the twins tap my shell, giggling quietly behind me, "Mom...we can-", I looked up at her as happiness filled my body, "-We can finally go home".

-------------------------------

POV Leo:

"Mondo Gecko! Leatherhead!", I pointed my head in the direction of the nearest dark alley as I made my way over there, waiting for them to catch up, "Yo what's dude", Leatherhead hummed in response, taking long strides over to where I stood. "Just a quick question, have either of you met a kid with the last name Tang?", Mondo looked up toward Leatherhead, while the other continued to stare at me, his face showing the same blank expression since Mikey left. "Nah, dude we haven't heard anyone by that name, why do you ask-"

"How about Michael or Mikey Tang?", I stared at Leatherhead, squinting as he blankly stared at me, "He's about 5'3, brown skin, freckles on his cheeks and shoulder-", switching my gaze over to Mondo, I noticed his stance became stiffer the more I explained the kid, "sounds exactly like...my brother...", even though this conversation was between the three of us, I glared at Mondo, standing to my full height, "N-no, the only humans, I know is April and Casey...heh heh heeeeeh"

'Mondo definitely knows the kid', I continued to glare down at Mondo as he became more nervous the longer the silence grew, "I never said anything about the kid being human...", the sentence broke him, he switched his gaze between me and the ground, I could almost see sweat drip down his forehead as his body began shaking aggressively, "W-well, I just assumed that-"

"So what Mondo-, you get introduced to a new human by our brother and never talk tell us...?", and in an instant, his expression changed from one of fear to confusion, he looked towards the ground, shaking until...the shaking stopped. Mondo looked back towards me as fear continued to cover his face, "I thought, Mikey told me to never tell you, I'm sorry-"

"SORRY-, THE ONLY PERSON THAT KNOWS WHERE MY BROTHER IS, IS THAT DAMN KID!!!", my voice echoed across the alley, stomping towards Mondo, I pinched my snout and took a deep breath, trying to calm myself down, "Just go, Mondo, Leatherhead, you guys can leave". Turning around toward the fire escape, I climbed to the top of the roof and pulled out my phone, opening the sibling ground chat.

-------------------------------

Me: Guys meet me back at the lair, there's something that needs to be discussed.

Raphael: 👍

Donnie: Alright, be there in 15 minutes

-------------------------------

~Fourteen Minutes Later~ 

"God just say it already-"

"No, we have to wait for Donnie, this involves all three of us-"

"Alright! I'm here...what's the problem", Donnie's pace slowed down from a sprint down to a jog pace as he made his way over to us, his breath coming out labored, "So, do you guys remember at the farmhouse, how they kid said he met Mondo gecko and Leatherhead?"

"Yeah so what", Raph voiced as he pulled out his phone, scrolling through god knows what, "Well, just to make sure I talked to them and guess walked, Leatherhead has never heard of the kid", Raph and Donnie quickly shared a gaze before they looked back at me, "What about Mondo?"

"That's the thing! He didn't know who I was talking about until I started describing him, but I never said he was human. Mondo got nervous and told me Casey and April are the only humans he knows-"

"Which means he definitely knew who you were talking about, but that makes no sense, how does he know about Leatherhead, he only leaves the sewers to search for Mikey, even without us! There could be a possibility that Mikey, our brother, has talked about Leatherhead during one of their hangouts!", I listened carefully as Donnie continued to talk, making this kid seem more and more suspicious, "Then this means that kids lying about something, did you learn or see anything else?"

"When I asked him why he didn't tell us about our brother's new human friend, he looked confused, but then a second later, looked normal considering the situation. Like when I talked about the kid, he looked normal, but as soon as I said that he met the kid through Mikey, he looked momentarily confused", Donnie looked towards the ground as he rubbed his chin with his fingers, "Then that means someone's lying, whether that's the kid or Mondo, all I know is as soon as the kid gets back in town, we're gonna have a good talking to him".

Chapter Text

POV Tang Shen:

*Crack*

I cracked open each egg into the pan as I listened to the quiet sizzle of the eggs sliding with the pan, mixing with the small amount of oil. I began stirring the eggs to create a runny texture, and tapping the edge of the pan as I began turning the mixture into my kids' favorite breakfast, omurice. I grabbed the plates already covered with the freshly made rice and formed uniformly in a nice round shape, gently I began scooping the egg onto the rice, plating two normal-sized omurice, and two slightly smaller ones, made perfectly for the twins. Turning around toward the table, I placed Mikey's and my plates in our respective seats and walked to the other small plates, placing them both inside the microwave for when the twins wake up.

"Morning ma...", Mikey's words came out mumbled as I heard his footsteps walking down the stairs, I turned toward the fridge and pulled out the small container of ketchup, watching Mikey sluggishly make his way to the table, the twins strapped tightly into the sling, sleeping soundly. "おはよう、フン"

(Good morning, hun)

Walking back to the table, I set down the ketchup closer to Mikey and sat beside him, scooping a small amount into my mouth, "それで、今日の予定は何ですか、お母さん？家に帰りますか?"

(So what are today's plans, Mom? Are we going home?)

"実は、今週の残りはここに滞在する予定で、その間、あなたのステルスに取り組みます-"

(Actually, we're going to stay here for the rest of the week, and during that time we'll work on your stealth-)

I continued to eat the rest of my meal, when I noticed the twins waking up, stretching their little arms, "-そして、直感を広げる方法、つまり、人があなたの近くにいたり、あなたを見ているときの感覚を学ぶ方法を教えた後、"

(-And after I'm going to teach you how to expand your intuition, learning to feel when people are near you or watching you)

"Cool! So I'll be able to just feel when people are looking at me?!", I nodded my head as he finished off his plate, and took it to the sink, grabbing the twins' plates and walking back with them

to the table. Making his way back to the table, I picked up Lita and placed her on my lap, letting her fully wake herself up.

---------------------

~One week later~

'As the week went by, I discovered that Michaelangelo was a fast learner, being able to move around the forest fairly quickly without disturbing none of the environment, making not one sound. I could feel his presence but the fact that over the week he learned to soundlessly run in the grass, climb trees, jump from tree to tree, from tree to the ground, and even make no noise when he uses his nunchucks, its amazing, though because of my son's aura, he has a hard time hiding it, however, that doesn't go angst his stealth'

'And whenever he didn't train, we occupied the time with shows, hobbies, and sometimes games. Every day, Mikey goes out once a day whether that's at night or early in the morning, he goes out and does his creative hobby, painting. Mikey would be gone for almost five to eight hours at the most, painting different sceneries he finds, painting them with such details, they almost look photographic, taken straight from a professional camera'

'However, the more time we lived in this farmhouse, this home, the more I didn't want to leave. After April told us the news, that New York was finally safe from those robotic aliens. For all I knew there could have been a few stragglers, a few bots left over that were not finished off...I called April two days ago, to check on my house, and search the inside. I asked her if she found anything to dispose of them, which she did, a couple of hours later she sent me photos of the destruction of the building, the bottom floor the windows were destroyed, shards of glass covered the dojo mats, and on the top floor only one window was broken'

'But that wasn't the only reason I didn't want to go back just yet, I wanted to give my kids just a bit longer to feel free without constantly hiding in the shadows just because of the fear people have towards what they don't understand...maybe once Mikey graduates, I'll take the kids and move permanently to the farmhouse. Where we can all live comfortably and happily...no fear...just freedom...'

---------------------

POV Mikey:

I stared at the TV as the movie played out, watching as Miles typed the password into the computer, "what's the rest!", Miles whispered loudly, only for Peter to signal with his hands as the scientist tapped his stomach, "Hey how old you, you dont look a day over- 35!"

"Mikey?", I turned toward the voice as I slid Jennika out of my lap, pushing myself up to my feet, and searched for my mom. "Yes, Mom?"

"もう荷造りは終わりましたか?"

(Have you finished packing yet?)

"いいえ、お母さん、でも今すぐやります"

(No, Mom, but I'm going to do it right now)

I quickly walked up the stairs, and made my way straight to me and the girls' room, leaving the door wide open. Walking over to the side of the room sat the small closet, I pulled out a suitcase and threw it onto the bed, unzipping the cover and leaving it wide open ready to be packed. Walking over to the dressers, I slid the top open and picked up the very few stacks of folded clothes, packing them all into the suitcase, packing the bibs, the pacifiers, the few diapers left over, the twins' bottles and utensils.

*Ding*

I picked up my phone and pulled down my screen, staring at the screen full of notifications, I scrolled through them, and noticed some from social media, song apps, pizza deals, and even...a text message, "Text from an unknown number?", cautiously I opened the chat and froze...staring at the name in the first text message.

---------------------

Unknown: Hey Angie, it's me, Jason, or Mondo Gecko

Unknown: I know you don't want to hear from me, let alone talk to me, but please just hear me out

Unknown: I just wanted to sincerely apologize for the way I responded last year, and for how I responded to what you went through, I know this apology could never truly show how sorry I feel, and I know you most definitely don't want to see or hear me ever again

Unknown: But I just wanted to explain why I acted that way

Unknown: When you told me that day, that you ran away, when you told me that didn't like the family you were with, you didn't like the life you lived...

Unknown: I got so angry, my brain didn't process the rest of what you said, all I processed was that you hated the family you were with. I was angry because my own family kicked me out the moment they saw me, they disowned me on the spot, and when I heard you say that I thought

Unknown: Why would someone want to leave such a strong family, one that taught you to become stronger

Unknown: Why would leave such a good family...I thought that until it was too late, when you disappeared out of my sight, the rest of what you said finally processed

Unknown: Mikey I am so sorry, no one deserves to go through what you did, no family should treat their own like that, making them feel so low, I'm so sorry and I understand if you don't want to talk to me ever again

Unknown: Have a good life man

Me: Hey Mondo...

Unknown: Angie! Oh my god, you answered!

Me: How did you get my number?

Unknown: Oh yeah, April gave it to me, I told her that I wanted her to tell you I was sorry for me, but she told me to say it to you myself and gave me your number

Me: K

Me: Just so you know it's going to take me some time to completely forgive you, but thank you for the apology, it means a lot

Unknown: No problem, I wish I could do more

---------------------

'He...apologized...', I stared at the screen as I felt something fall off my shoulders, "He...doesn't hate me...", I chuckled as a tear fell down my cheek, staring at the barely lit screen.

"おい、フン、キッチンで食べ物の荷造りが終わったよ。荷物のまとめは終わりましたか-、なんと、ハニー、何が起こったのですか?!"

(Hey hun, I finished packing up the food in the kitchen. Did you finish up packing-, Oh my goodness honey, what happened?!)

Mom ran to my side and cupped my cheeks, lifting my face up to face her completely. "ハニー、大丈夫ですか?!なぜ泣いているのですか?!"

(Honey, are you okay?! Why are you crying?!)

Rubbing my tears away, she pulled me into a tight hug and squeezed me hard, pulling away to look me in the face, "大丈夫だよ、ママ...本当に幸せだよ..."

(I'm fine, Mama...I'm just so happy...)

Quickly I hugged Mom and pressed my face into her shoulder, tears continuing to slowly fall, soaking her shirt, "何が起こったのか教えてほしいですか?"

(Do you want to tell me what happened?)

Slowly I put my phone away and sat back against the bed as my mom sat beside me, "Before you found me, even before I ran away, I had a really close best friend, we...we would always hangout, but after I ran away, he wanted me to explain, why I left, so I told him...he called me brat saying that I lived a perfect life-"

"何?!"

(What?!)

"Mom...", I chuckled as she mumbled under her breath, "He just texted me, apologizing for what he said, explaining everything...", I stared down at the ground, and leaned onto her shoulder, "テキストメッセージを読むことはできますか?"

(Can I read the text messages?)

I handed over my phone letting her read the texts he sent as well as the minimal I sent to him. Watching her scroll through the messages, I continued to lean on her shoulder and fiddled with her free hand, moving her fingers around back and forth, as time went on the more nervous I grew, waiting for her opinion.

Finally after a few minutes, she placed the phone down next to her, leaning her head onto mine, "私の正直な意見を言うつもりです...彼は反応する前にあなたの話を十分に聞くべきでした、そして私は彼の反応の仕方がまったく大丈夫だったと言っているわけではありません...私が言いたいのは彼がそうすべきだということだけです彼が怒る前にあなたの言うことを聞いてくれました..."

(I'm going to give you my honest opinion...He should have listened to you fully before he reacted, and I'm not saying the way he reacted was okay at all...all I'm saying is that he should have listened to you before he got angry....)

She pulled my hand into hers, massaging my palms, leaving the air completely silent, I began to open my mouth ready to respond back, only for her to continue, "しかし、状況について学ぶとき、人はさまざまな方法で反応することができます。それが怒り、混乱、喜び、悲しみなど、とにかく反応するのが完全に不安定なものであっても、誰もが特定の方法で反応する理由を持っています...彼が説明したのは良いことですなぜ彼がそのように反応したのか、彼があなたにそれを考えるためのスペースと時間を与えてくれたことがさらに良いです"

(However, when learning about situations, people can respond in a multitude of ways, whethers thats through angry, confusion, happily, sadness, whatever it is completely understable to respond anyway, everyone has a reason to respond a certain way...it's good he explained why he reacted that way, its even better that he's giving you space and time to think it over)

Lifting her hands from mine, she handed me my phone and pulled me into a quick hug, rubbing away the loose tears that fell down my cheek, and softly kissed me on the forehead, "さあ、荷造りを終えて家に帰りましょう"

(Now come on, let's finish packing up, so we can head home)

---------------------

'We continued to pack the leftover clothes and toilet trees, packing the supplies into the suitcases, until finally everything was put away, taking all the suitcase to the front door, and all that was left was cleaning'

Walking over to the closet, I pulled out the only vacuum in the house and began to vacuum the top floor, cleaning up all the dirt and dust that was left on the ground, leaving the top floor the way it was months ago. "Maaaa, 掃除機が必要でしたか?!"

(Did you need the vacuum?!)

Looking over the railing of the staircase, I waited for Mom's answer but got no response back, "...Mom?!", the silence continued as I peeked down the staircase, "Ma!"

"AH!", I quickly turned around only to see Mom chuckling behind me, laughing hysterically hard, "Mama!!!", holding her stomach she continued to laugh, "ごめんなさい、本当に怖がらせたかっただけです"

(Sorry, I just really wanted to scare you)

I walked down the stairs carrying the vacuum down with me, noticing that the twins were watching a different Spiderman movie, "I'm getting you next time, Mom. And you won't know when!", I pointed at her as I brought the vacuum down to the bottom floor, and began cleaning, "Baba! Babaaaaa!", I quickly shut off the vacuum cleaner as Lita ran up to me, grabbing at the machine, "What's up, sweet pea?", she continued to shake the vacuum, "No moe!"

"I gotta clean, sweet pea. I'll be super quick, okay?", she nodded her head and ran back to the TV, I continued my cleaning beginning with the side room and then moving onto the living room, chuckling as Lita and Jennika gave me the cutest pouting faces. As I finished up with the cleaning I turned off the machine, only for the girls' cheer as I wrapped up the cord, "What did I take too long?"

"Mm-hm!", I chuckled and walked up the stairs, sliding the vacuum back into its closet. Closing the door behind me, I ran towards the spare room, noticing that Mom finished packing up the weapons, placing them all back inside their holsters. "ねえ、お母さん、バンにすべてを詰める準備はできていますか?"

(Hey Mom, ready to pack up everything into the van?)

"はい、帰る準備はできていますか?"

(Yeah, are you ready to go home?")

She carefully arranged the weapons and turned toward me, tossing me the van keys, "自分でも分からない、文字通りこの家に4ヶ月近く住んでいた、もう少しだけ滞在できたらよかったのに"

(I don't even know, I literally lived in this house for almost four months, I wish I could have stayed just a bit longer)

She chuckled as I looked over the top floor window, staring the forests that stood not far from the house, remembering the memories I made and the ones she experienced, "そうですね、私は考えていました...あなたが卒業したら...ここを離れることについてどう思いますか...永久に"

(Well, I was thinking...after you graduate...what do you think about moving out here...permanently)

I quickly turned towards her, shocked by the words she spoke, "Really?!?!?!", she nodded her head as she began picking up the weapons, waiting for me to help out, "But?! What about the girls, how will they learn...anything?!"

"彼らに教えるのを手伝ってください、さあ、来てください"

(You can help me teach them, now come on)

Walking over to the bed, I carefully picked up as many weapons as I could, making sure none of them got damaged, "Alright alright!", I stepped down the wooden stairs, jumped off the final one, and walked behind the twins, Jennika continued to watch as Lita started drawing what looked like herself but with weird arms, almost kinda like...Dr. Octavias?

I swung the door open with Mom right on my tail, and carefully pulled out the key, unlocking the van and popping open the trunk. "Mom, let's put the weapons in the back seat", she looked over the seat, switching her gaze between the weapons and the seats, "はい、これらを元に戻してから、最初にスーツケースを置き、慎重に上にいくつか置きます"

(Yeah, let's put these back there, then put the suitcases in first so we can carefully place some on top)

"Alright!", I opened the back door and climbed inside gently placing the weapons on the seat, grabbing the weapons from Mom, and placing them on top. Leaving the door open, I jumped out and ran inside, pulling two of the four suitcases with me and tossing them into the back. I ran inside and grabbed the last two, making my way to the front door, "Baba?", I turned around to see Jennika staring at me, reaching up towards me, "What's wrong honey bee?".

"Where baba go?", I chuckled as I slid Jennika into the sling, and continued moving the suitcases to the trunk, "Well, baba and mama, think it's time to go home". She turned towards the house and pointed at me, switching her gaze between me and the house, "No hun, the other home", she looked down at the ground and pressed her body into my shell. Tossing the suitcases into the trunk, I adjusted the luggage and made should they are secure, "Do you not want to go home yet?", she shook her head, pressing herself deeper into my shell, "Well, when I'm done with school, we'll come back here and stay forever, how does that sound?"

"Really?!", she smiled wide as her tail wagged back and forth, "Yes really, but remember I have to finish first"

"Okey! Spiderman?", I chuckled as I walked back into the house, placing Jennika back on the floor, "Go ahead but we're leaving when the movie ends okay?", she nodded her head as she ran back to the TV, sitting right next to her sister, who couldn't to draw, what now seemed like Jennika as Spiderman? Walking past the twins, I made my way up the stairs, noticing my mom waiting patiently in the room, "ねえ、ママ、絵がまだあるんだけど、どこに置けばいいの?"

(Hey Mom, I still have my paintings, where should I put them?)

She switched her gaze between the weapons and me, reaching for the weapons and picking up the largest ones first, "絵はトランクに置き、武器は後部座席に置き、床に残ったものは予備の毛布の上に置きます。さあ、アートを取りに行きましょう、フン"

(Put the paintings in the trunk, I'll just put the weapons in the back seat and whatever is left on the floor on some extra blankets. Now go get your art, hun)

---------------------

After a whole hour, Mom and I finally finished packing all of our stuff into the van, the suitcases, the weapons, and even my art, all that was left was the two sleepy twins and Ice Cream Kitty. I carefully slid both of the twins into the sling, then made my way to the fridge, opening the door to see a very tired kitty, "Yoooo, Ice Cream Kittyyyyyy", I whispered loudly as I picked her up, placing her straight into the cooler, leaving the tub wide open.

"はい、準備はできましたか?"

(Alright, ready to go?)

"Yep", placing Ice Cream Kitty in the middle of the front row, I slipped Lita out of her pouch and clicked her seatbelt into place, doing the same with Jennika, "Mom did you want me to drive home?", she shook her head as she walked to the driver side front seat, "いや、でももし足がつり始めたら、運転させてあげるよ"

(No, but if my leg starts to cramp, I'll let you drive)

"Okay!", running to the other side of the van, I quickly jumped into the passenger seat, closing the door behind me. I pulled out my phone and entered our address, setting the phone off in front of my mom.

"よし、行きましょう"

(Alright, let's get going)

Pulling out of the dirt driveway, she began our journey back home, journeying down the open road, I looked back as the distance between the van grew larger and larger, memories replaying as I could no longer see the two-story house.

!TW PANIC ATTACK!

!IF YOU WOULD LIKE TO SKIP! THE PART YOU READ IS THE END OF THE STORY!

"Baba!"

Driving down the open road, I looked back at Lita through the rearview mirror

"What's up sweet pea?"

"Turtles...arr fammy?"

"I'm sorry sweet pea, I didn't catch that"

I couldn't wait to get home as I continued to drive down the dirt road, away from April's farmhouse, still feeling that tinge of anger linger inside of me, wishing I never got the chance to see those turtles.

"Turtles...arr fammy?"

...our fammy...

Our family...

Mikey...are those turtles your family

My family

My family

MY family

MY Family

MY FAmily

MY FAMily

MY FAMIly

MY FAMILy

MY FAMILY

THOSE TURTLES ARE YOUR FAMILY, MICHAELANGELO

The sound around me went silent as the road grew longer and longer, turning to the side of the road, I parked the car, my breath growing shorter as I gripped the wheel, tears falling down my cheeks. I grabbed my chest as I felt my heart beat against my chest aggressively, each pump grew louder and louder as I pressed my head into the steering wheel.

"No no no no no no no no no no they're....*gulp* not my family, no no no no no..."

*Gasp*

*gasp*

*gasp*

"Please..."

*gasp*

*gasp*

*gasp*

"please... leave me alone..."

"I swear I did everything correctly, please d-don't"

*sniff*

I couldn't hear my surroundings as my words became mumbles, not the running engine, not even my sister...

"Baba?"

"Please, I-I did good...I-I-I'm not weak, I'm strong..."

"Tah-tah, you made Baba sad"

"*sniff* I sowwy Babaa..."

The twins' words finally became louder, the ringing disappeared, and my loud heartbeat finally calmed down, giving me room to breathe. I slowed down my breathing and wiped away the tears that soaked my face, pressing my face away into the steering wheel harder, trying to find someway to ground myself.

"Babaaa *sniff* I sowwy..."

*Gulp*

"You're okay...*huff*...Lita...*huff*...I'm sorry too sweet pea..."

Mikey...

I looked around me I stood in darkness, but frozen in place, I was surrounded by the three turtles...and a tall figure staring down at me...

'Wait a second, when was this?!'

Mikey...You're weak

Mikey...quit

Michaelangelo...you are such a disappointment...

Mikey

Mikey!

Mikey!!!

MIKEY!!!

The figures' voices repeated over and over, growing louder and louder each time they spoke, I tried covering my ears but nothing helped, I screamed at the figures pleading, begging them to stop, to leave me alone, to leave my family alone...but all they did was circle are me, yelling my name, and all I could do...was ask them to stop...

LEAVE ME ALONE!!!... Please...leave...ME ALOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOONNNNNNNNNEEEE!!!

MIKEY!!!

MIKEY!!!

MIKEY!!!

MIKEY!!!

MIKEY!!!

"Mikey!", *GASP* my gaze switched over to Mom as my breath was caught in my throat, causing me to go into a coughing fit, my throat continued to hurt as I tried to calm my breathing as my Mom handed over a water bottle. After some time I finally caught my breath and curled into a ball, hugging my knees tightly against my chest, switching my gaze out the window, watching the trees pass by, "Mikey...フン、大丈夫か...泣いてるよ..."

(Hun, are you okay...you're crying...)

I touched my face, noticing the tips of my fingers soaked in tears, I rubbed my arms over my face and rubbed the tears onto my arm, leaning my face onto my knees, looking out the window, "私は大丈夫です、お母さん...私はただ...二度とあのカメに会わないことを願うだけです..."

(I'm fine Mom...I just...I just hope I never see those turtles ever again...)

Chapter Text

POV Mikey:

"Mikey! これを一掃するのを手伝ってくれませんか?!"

(Can you help sweep this up?!)

Walking down the stairs, I carried two of the many garbage bags over my shoulder and shoved the door open using my foot, on the way out I noticed Mom on the far side of the room, swiping page after page through a phone book, and scanning through the page with her finger, "はい、お母さん、手伝います、ゴミ出しだけです"

(Yeah, Mom, I can help, I just need to take out the trash)

Making my way over to the side door, I pushed the door open and slammed the bags next to the container, lifting the lid and throwing them inside as a rush of rotten smell pushed into my face, I instantly cringed and used my hand to fan away the smell, "Oh god, what the heck!", dropping the lid immediately, and plugging my nose. Turning around towards the door, I walked inside and picked up the trash bags only to be hit with the same terrible smell once more. Quickly turning around I made my way back upstairs, and grabbed the last two bags, tossing them over my shoulder as I ran downstairs, "Hey, Mom, it smells really bad upstairs, do you think I could stop by the store and pick some like air spray".

"そうそう、さっき気づいたんだけど、ゴミかと思ってたんですが、違うんですね。ええ、思い出してください、あなたの窓を修理できる人を探しているのです。えっと、いつエイプリルがまたここに来るって言いましたか?"

(Oh yeah, I noticed that earlier, I just thought it was the trash, but I guess not. Yeah just remind me, I'm trying to find someone who can fix your windows. Uh, when did you say April was getting here again?)

"えー、確認させてください-"

(Uh, let me check-)

Pulling out my phone, I scrolled through the previous conversation, "Uhhh, よくわからないけど、彼女は10分ほど前に出て行ったと言っていた"

(I'm not sure, but she said she left like ten minutes ago)

I finished off and walked out to the trash container, tossing the remaining trash into the bin, "So she should be here any minute-"

"Hey! Sorry it took so long, I wanted to stop by the store and pick us up a drink, here", walking in from the front door, April handed me a small can of root beer as she quickly sipped her own, taking the lukewarm can, I cracked open the top and took a big sip, releasing a loud sigh as I finished a couple gulps of the soda. "Thanks and dude, you're not late, we don't have alot to do, so come on"

Walking over to the front of the dojo, glass was sprawled out across the floor, and only one section of the mess was swept up. "So, what's the plan", walking off to the side, I picked up the broom and dustpan, setting them gently against the wall, "Alright, one person sweeps the glass and the other tapes the paper-"

"Dibs on the paper!", April yelled as she raced towards the large perfectly cut paper, holding the role of tape above her head, "What?! Brooooo, I was gonna do that!~", she continuously tossed the tape barely in the air, catching it over and over, "Well you snooze, you lose", I whined as I picked up the broom, and began sweeping up the glass, bringing all the shards into one huge pile, "I'll win next time, just wait"

"Yeah yeah...", I continued to sweep up the glass, wearing Mom's only rain boots just so I didn't cut myself. Pulling out my phone, I scrolled through my music app and decided to play a funky song.

~Party In The CIA by "Weird Al" Yankovic~

I moved out to Langley recently

With a plain and simple dream

Wanna infiltrate some third-world place

And topple their regime

Those men in black with their matching suitcases

Where everything's on a need-to-know basis

Agents got that swagger

And everyone so cloak and dagger

Finally picking a song, I connected my Bluetooth earbugs and shoved one into my ear, handing the other to April who quickly took the piece and placed it into her ear, and began jamming to the song. I shoved the phone into my hoodie pocket and continued sweeping, it took a while until finally all the glass was swept into several large piles, ready to be tossed in a large bin. Walking off to the side, I pulled over a large trash can and placed it in the middle of the many piles. I swept the glass and poured the shards into the trash, dumping pile after pile and finishing off with the last one.

Stretching my arms as I listened to my joints pop, I grabbed the side of the bin and dragged the can out to the side of the building, slamming it down and lifting the lid. I dumped all the glass into the large container as I closed my eyes and mouth, and slammed the empty bin on the ground, slamming the lid shut and dragging the bin back into the dojo. "Hey, Saiki, I'm gonna head upstairs and start sweeping"

"Wait, help me with the last one and I'll join you, Gelo", I nodded and knelt down, handing her the last sheet and ripped off a long strip of tape, taking the long piece from my hand, April slapped the last piece on finishing her project as well. "Neat-o! Time to go upstairs!", swinging open the door, I began climbing the steps, cringing as the rotten smell continued getting worse, "Uckkkk! Bro, what is that smell?!"

"Heh, well when I packed up to leave for my mom's farmhouse, and I brought food that would last, meaning I left all the food I left behind...went bad...", carrying the broom over to the glass, I began sweeping up the shards into the dustpan, quickly cleaning up the small mess. "Let's just hurry up and clean this, so we can go back downstairs"

"Good idea", I chuckled as I heard her stuffy voice as she plugged her nose, trying to not smell any more of the rotten stench that lingered inside the room. Walking downstairs, I walked over to the side door and dumped the remaining shards into the container, and made my way back to April just as she finished up the window, "Alright, let's head back downstairs", April nodded as she jumped off the stool, continuing to plug her nose. Walking down the stairs, I stepped into the dojo and made my way towards my Mom, noticing she was in the middle of a call. Waiting in front of her as I waited for the next task, she softly spoke into the phone and pulled the phone down, covering the speaker, "ねえ、私たちはホテルで数泊するつもりだよ"

(Hey, we're going to be spending a few nights in a hotel)

"A hotel? Why would we need to spend a few nights there?", confused, I looked at Mom as she closed the phone book with a quiet thud, "窓を直すために何人かの作業員が来ることになるので、女の子たちを人に見られる危険にさらしたくないのですが-"

(There are going to be some workers coming over to fix the windows, and I don't want to put the girls at risk of being seen-)

"Well, oh sorry Ms. Tang...", April covered her mouth, looking visibly embarrassed from what I'm guessing was from interrupting Mom, however, my Mom waved her off and gently smiled, "No hun, continue", clearing her throat, April continued off what she last said, "Well, I was thinking instead of spreading the night where there is still a chance of someone seeing the girls, why don't you just spend those nights at my home, we have a spare room, the room only has a Twin XL bed, but the room should fit everyone, right?", Mom lowered her phone, but still covering the mic, "Are you sure? We don't want to intrude...wait what about the twins?"

"Yeah, and what about your dad?", my question must have stumped her as she looked between the both of us and pulled out her phone.

"My Dad is super chill with me bringing people over to spend the night, but just in case I'll ask in case, plus my dad's seen mutants before Ms. Tang. Oh, but Gelo, you'll have to wear it when he's home", April finished as she typed a few buttons on her phone, "Wait, if your father is fine with mutants then why does Mikey have to wear his necklace?"

"My Dad personally knows his old family, and my Dad sucks at lying, so its probably better to just not let him see Gelo, but he's gone most of the time, he leaves early and gets home really late"

"Yeah, you're probably right. Don't want this kid taken away from his family", Mom scratched my head, giving me sort of a scalp massage as she finished her sentence, ruffing the top of my head. Mom took a deep breath, before letting out a tired breath and pulled out her phone with her hand still covering the mic, "Well you ask your dad, I'm gonna finish this called and Mikey?", turning toward her, I brushed my hair back, using my hand to fix it, "Here's $10, go to the nearest store and buy an air freshener", I nodded and ran towards the side door, shoving the money into my pocket, "そして小銭を返してください!"

(And bring me back the change!)

"Alright, Mom!"

-------------------------------

"I'm back!", pushing open the side door and walking through the dojo, I noticed that Mom was finished with her call as she organized the dojo, placing all the weapons in the staff room, and locking the door shut. Walking over to her, I pulled out the change, and placed the money into her palm, "Oh Mikey, 作業員との電話を終えたところ、1時間以内に到着するとのことなので、あなたと妹たちのために荷造りに行ってはいかがでしょうか。終わったら、子供たちを送り届けます"

(I finished the call with the workers and they said they'll be here in an hour, so why don't you go pack for you and your sisters. When you're done, I'll drop you kids off)

"Okay!", running towards the stairs, I ran up and pushed the door open, making my way straight to the kitchen, "Parish smell!", aiming the spray can towards the kitchen, I sprayed down every inch of the kitchen, until all I could smell was lemon. "Alright, my Dad's okay with you guys, spending the night-, Ohhh, I like that smell, what is it?", slamming the can on the counter, "Lemon!", I said loudly as I walked over to the counter she leaned on the top. Reaching under the sink, I pulled out the cleaning spray and sprits all the surfaces in the kitchen, walking over to the towel cabinet and grabbing a fresh towel, I wiped every single surface until finally every inch of the kitchen was clean and dry.

Tossing the towel over my shower, I walked over to my bedroom as April followed me, falling right onto my bed sheets, "You know what's funny, even though you have a different room and remember nothing about your old life, your room looks almost basically the same!", I felt something knot in my gut at the sound of my old life, so I ignored her observation as I pulled out a suitcase, swinging it on top of the dresser and flipped open the top. Pulling open my drawers, I tossed in a few shirts and a pair of jean shorts, searching through my drawers and closet, I couldn't find one hoodie, everything was dirty from the trip to the farmhouse, "What are you looking for?"

"A hoodie, but I guess they're all dirty from the farmhouse trip", I decided to just continue packing, I moved onto the twins' clothes as I left the room, and opened the girls' bedroom, "Whoa! What's this-", quickly hushing April, I pointed towards the basking turtles as they slept under the lamp, absorbing the heat. "It's the twins' room, but sometimes they nap with me", pulling open the drawer, I looked at the small outfits and pulled out the diapers, 'it's getting closer to winter, maybe I should bring them some baby clothes', deciding to keep them warm, I pulled out a few outfits and tiptoed out of the room, waiting as April exited right after me.

Closing the door, I made my way back to my bedroom and packed the clothes into the suitcase, zipping it all the way shut. "You all good to go, Gelo", placing the suitcase on the floor, I walked over to my closet and pulled out the double sling, strapping it on, "One sec Saiki, I have to go get the twins, can you take this down to the car and let Mom know I'll be down soon?", April nodded her head and left towards the living, pushing open the girls' bedroom door, I slowly stepped towards the mat and picked up the twins, setting each one in their own pouch and picking up a warm blanket, draping it over their still warm bodies.

Reaching towards the lamps, I shut each one off and left the room, making my way down to the dojo where Mom and April were waiting. "女の子達はいるの?"

(You got the girls?)

"Yeah, they're sleeping", I whispered and rubbed deep scratches into the shell, "では行きましょう"

(Okay, let's go)

Walking towards the side down, April walked in front of me and pushed it open, I followed out the door, walking out after her. April opened the back door of the van, and let me get in, waiting for me as I tried to get myself comfortable. Closing the door, April walked to the other side of the van and opened the passenger side door, placing the suitcase, right next to my legs, and closed the door, hopping straight into the front seat.

Shifting gears into reverse, Mom reversed down the alley and turned onto the busy road. My Mom would ask April directions as I looked out the window and watched as building after building would pass by, placing my fingers on the window ledge, I would imagine them as a little runner, jumping over people, and scaling buildings. "Gelo, what the heck are you doing?"

"I'm pretending my fingers are a super person", I continued to make noises as my fingers jumped over buildings, landing perfectly on the ground, "Oh turn into that alley, that apartment's mine!", they slowly came to a stop as a repeated noise played, showing the drivers around us of our plans. My mom turned towards the alley as I looked towards the front, and covered the twins with the blanket.

"Alright time to get out everybody!~", Mom spoke in a singsong tone, as she turned off the car, and stepped out of the van, pulled the side door wide, "来て"

(Come on)

I stepped out of the van and followed April as she walked towards the front of the building, pulling the suitcase close behind her. I looked around and felt so crowded, pulling the twins' closer to my chest, 'It's okay it's okay it's okay', though the twins were asleep, I hushed them quietly, bouncing in my walk, trying to calm myself down. April pushed open the door and let me walk in first, waiting inside, I watched as April walked in first then my Mom. Without saying anything, April walked towards an old, yet well-cared-for elevator, and pressed the lift button, "Mikey, I won't be here long, I just want to pop in and introduce myself to April's father".

I nodded my head and entered the elevator, watching as April pressed the button that led to the top floor, closest to the roof. After some time the door finally closed and began to rise, slowly ascending to the top floor, "Hey Gelo, you alright", I turned towards April, no longer looking at the carpeted floor, noticing my bouncing motion and hushing still continued, "Yeah, just...being in a public space with the girls wide out in the open just... got me nervous..."

"Hey, it's alright right to get nervous, now come this is our floor", the doors open not even a second later as she dragged me towards the farthest door, far across the hallway. Pulling out her keys, she began unlocking the door, only for her father to open it instead, "Oh, you guys are here, come in, come in!", Mr. O'Neil pulled open the door and stepped off to the side, holding the door wide open as April entered first, then me, then my Mom. "Thank you for letting us spend a few nights in your lovely home", Mom said as she bowed to Mr. O'Neil, standing back to her full height, barely taller than him.

"Oh, it's no problem, now April told me you have two young turtle children", I nodded as I continued to cover the twins, and scanned the room, noticing that the room was visibly less decorated and cared for than the farmhouse, and looked back at Mr. O'Neil who looked behind me, searching for something, "Where are they?"

"Oh, sorry", I apologized as I pulled down the blanket, showing him the still sleeping turtles, pressing their cheeks into my body, and searching for warmth, "Oh my word, they're like baby babies". Mom smiled happily as she continued to talk about the twins and me, well human me, looking down I scratched the turtles' shells, waking up the two from their deep sleep, and yawning widely as they stretched "Hey Gelo, come on", my eyes grew heavy, I looked towards April and followed her, trailing after her to the spare room, "Hey, you want to watch a movie in my room!"

"Yeah sure, what movie", my tone stayed the same however giving off a tired tone, too tired to seem excited, "Just meet me in my room-", she pointed down the hall, barely lit with a single ceiling light, "-It's the room on the right", walking down the hallway, I pushed open her door and froze in place. Her room gave off such a warm tone, with yellows all over the room, and posters matching the color theme, I walked deeper into the room and noticed a small Tv set on top of her dresser that sat next to a small shelf full of movies, different ones too, old ones, new ones, some I've never heard of, and even a few I thought were ban from the US.

"Your Mom left, she said she should be back in an hour", I nodded my head, switching my gaze down to the twins who stared up at me, Jennika seeming more tired than Lita. April closed the door and walked over to the movie shelf, scanning through the multitude of movies, I slowly pulled the two out of the sling and placed them on the ground, frozen in place as they looked around the room, "Now, what should we watch-"

"Spooderman!", Lita yelled, tumbling over to April, grabbing onto her leggings, "Alright alright, calm down you Stinker, I'll play Spiderman", she scanned through the shelf, searching for the movie, "Hey, Saiki, do you have any clothes I could borrow to sleep in, I forgot to bring pjs", April pulled out a movie case and placed it on the drawer, "Sure, do you want a T-shirt or a hoodie?", she said, pulling out a pair of black shorts with yellow designs, "T-shirt, please", grabbing the shorts, I threw them over my shoulder, and grabbed the shirt, noticing her room was connected to a bathroom, I walked inside.

"Hey, Gelo hurry up, you're gonna miss the movie", Walking out of the bathroom, I placed my folded clothes on top of her dresser, and made my way over to her bed, sitting on the edge of her bed. "Dude, sit up here", turning around I noticed Jennika next to her, while Lita was on her lap. Scooting up to the top of the bed, I laid my head on the headboard and stared at the screen as my eyes closed shut, falling straight to sleep.

-------------------------------

'Voices...who's voice...', pushing off the bed, I swung my feet onto the floor and walked towards the sounds. As I walked closer to the voices, I recognized one of them, it was April's voice, rubbing my eyes and trying to wake myself up, I grabbed onto her sleeve, getting her attention, "Saiki...*Yawn* you're gonna wait up the girls...what are you doing up", my voice grumbled to April and looked out the window, there stood a stranger that looked strangly familiar, a mutant turtle with a purple mask, 'Have I met them before...'

"If I woke up, we can go back to our room-"

"No, Gelo it's alright, you need as much sleep as you can, just go back to bed", nodding my head, I looked back at the mutant outside her window, glaring at me with the hardest stare, "Can I help you-"

"April, why the shell is he here?"

-------------------------------

POV Tang Shen:

"Thank you again, Mr O'Neil for letting my family stay in your lovely home", he placed his drink on the side table and placed a cup of warm tea in front of me, sitting down on the opposite side of the couch, "It's no problem, Ms. Shen and you can call me Kirby", taking a small sip of my tea, I scanned over the living room, photos hung on the wall, and I noticed not one showed a mother, "If you don't mind me asking, what happened to April's mother?", Kirby placed his cup on the table and covered his face with his hands, taking a deep breath as the silence lengthened, "Her mother disappeared before April was old enough to remember...", turning towards his side he pulled out his wallet and handed me a folded up photo.

"Before we moved to New York, me and my wife own a small farmhouse in North Hampton, we wanted to live a stress-free life, raising animals and letting our at the time unborn child ran around whenever she wanted no matter how long she was out...", I took a sip from the cup, letting Kirby continue, "However, one night...I...I didn't know what to do, I found her in the basement holding April as she was standing there surrounded by a room full of Kraang technology", his hands fell down to his side as he stared at the ground, "My wife...my wife was a Kraang experiment...she wasn't even human. After I saw her true form, I did the only smart thing as a parent I could do...run away. I drove all the way to New York with April and spent the night with some family that lived there...I haven't heard from my wife since"

"I'm...so sorry...", I watched as he took a deep gulp from his drink, "It's fine...you know, it's good to talk about this to another parent, who knows mutants exist, I mean how do you do it, April goes out every night and fights bad guys"

"Well Michaelangelo, doesn't really go out fighting crime, he just stays home and works on homework, and when he's free, he takes care of the twins", after sometime Kirby finally turned his gaze towards me, "Well, I must say your lucky, I get so worried about April, she goes out every night fighting gangs, the kraang, even the shredder-"

"The Shredder?", I immediately apologize only for him to say its alright, "Yeah, I'm surprised you've never heard of them, I found out from April that the Shredder is some guy that leads a clan, searching for the turtles' father, oh what was the clan...", swishing the remaining tea inside my cup, I finished it off, loving the taste of American tea, "Oh that's right! He leads the Foot Clan-", my neck quickly turned towards Kirby, as I choked on my tea, causing me to go into a coughing fit. Kirby ran over to me and patted my back, after some time the coughing calmed down, "Did you say...the Foot Clan", confused Kirby nodded his head, 'What is the Foot Clan doing in America...', placing my mug on the table I pushed myself up from the couch, "Thank you for the tea, Kirby, but I think I will be heading off to bed, good night". Bowing my head, I turned around and walked towards the spare bedroom, closing the door behind me, "This can't be just a coincidence...can it?"

Chapter Text

A/N~ Guys...my parents found out I wrote stories...they asked and I said I write about turtles...now my mom thinks that I write about master Oogway...the tortoise...FROM KUNG FU PANDA XD, I'm so done, well that's all <3

POV Donnie:

"Ugghhhhh!!! Dude, where the hell is April?! I've been waiting to watch this movie all day-"

"Raph, she's probably on the way, just wait a bit longer, and if you remembered correctly she said she would be coming late", annunciating the T. Raph tapped his fingers on his arm as he crossed them, "Well, can you tell her if she's left yet, cause I'm going to start the movie without her if she doesn't get here fast enough", stood up from his seat and walked over to his punching bag, getting into stance, "Well did you call her at least", he began punching the dummy as I opened my phone, staring down at the multiple messages on the screen, "Well no, but I did text her, but she hasn't answered-"

"Then, why don't you go check on her then, cause if you two don't get back soon, I'm starting without you", groaning I shut my computer and placed it off to the side, and grabbed my bo, sliding it into my holster, "Fine, I'll be right back", standing up from the couch, I walked towards the turnstiles, and jumped right over them, strolling through the long empty tunnels of the sewers. I pulled out my T-phone and scrolled straight to mine and April's chat.

-----------------------------

20:10

Me: Hey, April just a reminder, we have movie night tonight, hope to see you.

21:35

Me: April are you coming tonight?

21:55

Me: April?

Me: ???

22:30

Me: Hey April, I'm on the way to you place, you're still coming right?

22:35

Me: Hey, are you okay?

-----------------------------

'Why isn't she answering my texts', scrolling through the messages, I started to get nervous as the time continued, the worry in my gut grew stronger, 'Oh god what if she's hurt', the initial thought scared me, terrified me as I raced down the empty subway tunnel, sprinting towards the ladder and climbing it faster than ever before. Pushing away the manhole cover, I shoved the cover back into place and climbed up the tall fire escape, jumping right on top of the old apartment building. Racing over the apartments, I scanned the streets of New York and searched through April's usual path to the lair, 'So there are five routes she takes to the lair, if she's coming from Murakami's then, the route usually takes her fifteen minutes to travel straight from there to the lair, unless she's in a bad mood then twenty-five minutes-'

I continued to think as I paced back and forth over the roof, staring down at the swing April goes to after school sometimes, 'It's too late for her to be hanging out, however, she did say that she was going to be busy and arriving late to our monthly movie night, where she comes over and spends the night, watching movies until dawn'. Pulling out my T-phone, I tracked the position of the phone I gifted her, noticing it still at her house, in the exact same spot for four hours. Shoving my phone into my pouch, I raced towards her apartment, counting down the distance, counting down the meters, the yards, even the inches, counting the distance kept me calm, kept me sane, but as I raced closer and closer towards her house, something felt off, it just felt wrong.

'Why wasn't she answering my texts, maybe she was far away from her phone, maybe she left it at home', slowing down to a stop, I stood still staring at the building as April's windows were covered, but a light shown through. Jumping down quietly onto the fire escape, I knocked on the window and heard voices stopped, most likely from a movie. She walked towards the window as I recongnized her silhouette, pulling the soft yellow curtains wide open, I smiled and waved. April shoved the windows open, "Hey, April!-"

"SHHH!!", she hushed me as she looked back towards the other side of her room, looking over her shoulder I noticed some weird lump on her bed, 'Probably just some clothes', I smiled and looked at April as she looked back at me, "What are you doing here?!", I looked at her confused as I pulled out my phone, and opened our messages, showing her the screen, she stared at the screen as I noticed her pulling the curtains together using them to hide the rest of her room. "Don't you remember it's us five's movie night", my voice hushed as I spoke to her, guessing she didn't want to wake her father, "Oh shit! Was that tonight?!", I nodded my head as I put my phone away into my pouch, her voice still whispered, "Yeah sorry, I have someone that's spending the night for a couple days and-"

"Saiki...*Yawn* you're gonna wait up the girls...what are you doing up", a boy's voice came off tired and raspy as April's arm was tugged down, making her let go of the curtain in the process. 'It's him, that kid...Tang Michaelangelo-, wait a second...why is this kid calling my April, Saiki?!', I glared as he looked up at me with tired eyes, rubbing the bags away, and switching his gaze back to April, "If I woke up, we can go back to our room-"

"No, Gelo it's alright, you need as much sleep as you can, just go back to bed", I stared at April as she called the kid by a nickname, 'Gelo...why does he get a nickname, wait why don't I have one?! Is it because I'm a mutant?!', rage grew in my gut as the back of my mouth began to sting as well as my eyes, I stared him down as he looked back at me, my expression was blank but I eyes were filled with anger. He looked at me, looking me up and down before he fully faced me, "Can I help you-"

"April, why the shell is he here?", the words fell out of my mouth, the words were covered in so much emotion, even April noticed but I guess this kid either didn't notice or didn't seem to care. "Why do you care...you her boyfriend?", even though the words were spoken with zero emotion, they made my rage grow. Like he just did, I looked at him up and down, only for my eyes to freeze over his clothes, however they weren't his...they were April's, "And why is he wearing your clothes?", my voice grew loud as I glared at the human in front of me, who expression continued to be the same one, tired and over the situation. "Donnie, I need you to keep it down, you're going to wait up the kids", she continued to hush me, but not the kid beside her, who continued to stare at me, not glare just stare.

"Look, Donnie, if you're going to continue being loud, I'm going to have to ask you to leave, and as for the clothes, he forget his freaking pjs Donnie", I switched my gaze over to April as the anger died a little only to be replaced by sadness, 'She...she wants me to leave?'. Anger no longer covered my face as I switched between the two, but froze as the kid tapped her on the shoulder, "Hey, if he really wants you to go, you can?", anger grew once more as I heard his words, giving her permission to hang out with her friends, "She doesn't need your permission, Kid"

"Whoa, bruh-"

"Don't 'Bruh' me jackass, April doesn't need your permission to hang out with her real friends", the kid snort as he stared at me, crossing his arms, "True, but at least she has a friend that doesn't pick fights with people he just met", I stopped for a second as I stared the kid, confused by his words, noticing that April was stunned as well, "What the shell are you talking about, we literally met before, this isn't the first time", I looked towards April, noticing her gaze shifting around until her eyes widened and stared at the kid, and turned back towards me, "Donnie, I need you to leave"

Shocked filled me as she spoke those words, starting to close the window on me, "Wait no April, I'm sorry, I didn't mean to upset you, please-"

"Donnie, I need you to leave. Now. I'm not coming over tonight", frozen I stared at April as she continued to close the windows, only for the last thing for me to see was the kid's eyes, staring at me with no emotion.

I pressed my cheek into the side of the glass, peeking through the small sliver of the curtain, listening to the two of them talk in hushed voices, "Mikey, when was the last time you took that thing off!", April whispered loudly as the other slouched in front of her, scratching his arm, "Saiki, please your going to wake the girls...", April groaned as she slowly sat onto the bed, pressing her face into her palms, "Mikey... when was the last time you took that thing off", April stabbed her finger into his chest as the kid back away from her, "I don't know, for two days..."

"In a row?! Alright take it off right now-, you know what I'm taking it off you, get over here?!"

"Wait April?! The girls-"

I stepped away from the window as their silhouettes grew smaller and smaller as they walked away from the window, 'Why do you care so much about that kid', I couldn't take it anymore, and jumped onto the next building, that was when the dam finally broke, tears fell down my eyes. I raced home, jumping over the multitude of buildings, and rubbing away the stream of tears that fell down my cheek, soaking my mask in the process.

'Why...why him...what makes him so god damn better than me', I jumped across the rooftops, racing in no direction as I stumbled on top of a building, and laid there lazily as I continued to sob my heart out, tears streaming down my face and stained the ground I laid upon.

*Ding*

The sound of my phone alerted me, letting me know someone wanted my answer, however, I was too tired to even move from my place on the roof, as I huddled against the crates next to me, shivering and twitching as the cuts and scrapes began to burn, the one on my knees burned as the asphalt pressed against my raw flesh, continued to embed itself deeper, causing the bleeding to become worse.

*Ding* *Ding*

More notifications were sent through as I pushed myself onto my back, staring at the smog-filled sky up above, 'Every night...every day...I try to win her heart, so she can love me, and only me, but it never works, she will always choose a human...over me', my eyes stung as I reached for the sky and felt as the blood drained from my fingers, leaving a numb sensation, something I wish I was feeling... right now.

*RRRIIINNNGGG*

Pulling out my phone, I stared at the contact that glowed on the screen as my heart continued to falter, it was Raph. Inside I hope-, no dreamed that April would call for me, begging me to come back and make everyone else leave, but no just a big reminder that April's not coming tonight.

-----------------------------

Me: "wha-"

Raph: "WHERE THE HELL ARE YOU, I TOLD YOU I'D WAIT THIRTY MINUTES IT'S BEEN FORTY-FIVE!!!"

Me: "*Sigh* just start without me, I'm gonna be out for a while-"

Raph: "Donnie! Come on get home, we're gonna watch without you!"

Raph(Leo): "Is Donnie and April on their way back"

Raph(Casey): "Dude, tell Donnie to hurry his ass up"

Me: "...just watch without me...I'm not in the mood for movies tonight..."

Raph: "Don, what the hell is-"

-----------------------------

I hung up the phone and switched it to silence, groaning as my phone began to vibrate aggressively, continuing to ring over and over and over and over, until finally...it stopped. Pure silence filled the air as nothing disturbed the atmosphere, no car horns, no dogs barking, no yelling, nothing. Just pure silence. Pushing myself up, I looked down at the scrapes and cuts on my legs, the bleeding continued as the liquid pooled onto the ground, staining the concrete bright red. 'I don't want to go home...I don't want to talk to anyone either, I just...want to be alone', I pushed myself up as I walked towards the edge, staring at the seas of buildings that stretched beyond the horizon, lit up by the small lights that brightened the street.

"Why can't I be loved...what's wrong with me. Why doesn't she just give me a chance, I could be a great boyfriend-, no I could be better! Doesn't April know that he's lying, but how can I prove it to her-", I stepped over the small wall and sat on the edge, staring at the ground below me, watching as trash rolled through the streets, "-how do I prove to her...That kid is a dangerous person, and I will prove it", I stepped away from the edge and turned towards the lair, sprinting in the direction of the manhole.

Buildings passed quickly as I jumped from one onto the other side, counting each building as it passed until I reached the cover, and went back into the sewers, climbing down the rusty ladder and jumping the last few steps onto the cold wet floor, listening to the underground rodents sounds echo across the floor, echoing across moist walls. Racing down the tunnels, I watched as I passed multiple passages, and saw the turnstiles far ahead, the sound of tonight's movie playing in the distance.

Stepping in front of the turnstiles, I pushed past them and noticed my laptop sitting forgotten on the couch, left open from earlier work, rushing towards my device and picking it up, I turned back towards my lab, shoving it wide open, "Donnie? What happened?...", I didn't face them as Leo spoke those words, holding the door open as I stood there frozen, "April's hanging out with Michael instead of us tonight...", the sentence spoke altitudes of meaning, Leo understood what I said as I turned back to him as he stared into my swollen eyes, the outer edges tinted red, I sighed as I turned back to my lab, "I'll see you guys in the morning..."

Quickly I slid the metal door shut, and made my way to my metal desk, placing my laptop on the surface. I leaned my face into my palms as I sat down, and took a deep stuttered breath, trying to calm down my nerves, "I *sigh* need to...distract myself...", slowly I opened my computer, staring as the lit up, "Transformation cell...I need to research the gem more..."

Typing in the password, I hacked into the kraang system and opened up the transformation cell files, I never took the time to read through the files, each one contained different information, all necessary in the progress and creation of the cell, I scrolled through each one as I stared at the name, that was until one caught my eye, unknown intruder, with an exact date marked beside the file.

Opening the file, I stared at the screen frozen in place, the screen showed a multitude of security footage, aimed at hallways and corners. I continued to scroll through the many videos, cut and saved to find a small paragraph at the bottom of the file, beginning with the exact date, and time of the intrusion.

-----------------------------

Unknown Intruder

Date: August 21, 2011.

Time: 19:25:20:05

The intruder was seen exiting the containment room with what had been determined and proved to be one of the few prototypes from the room. At the moment, the prototypes contain a few too many adverse side effects that have been discussed in kraang research, however, kraang came to find out that the intruder, stole one of the prototypes with the most adverse side effects:

-Seizures

-Nausea

-Vertigo

-Syncope

-Bipolar reactions, leading to the user to be calm one moment and suddenly angry the next, or depressed, anxious, all common signs seen in previous users

-Amnesia or sections of memories or people erased from their mind

-Dependence towards the transformation cell, not wanting to give up it

As seen in the videos above, we have seen short momentary sightings of the intruder, having forgotten to hide its face from us, however, we have seen no sign of its mutant form, yet in the first security footage, we see the flash of light indicating that the creature did in fact transform. If the intruder were in fact a human, physically touching the cell would reach no results, rather give off the form of just a normal earth crystal.

After the intruder escaped, we sent out kraang to retrieve the crystal, and the intruder, seeing how the user was affected could be considered useful in the development of the prototype. There have been very few sightings all of which occurred during the day, too dangerous to be seen and attacked by Earth's humans. However, a description has been reported and documented, if any kraang sees the intruder, capture the intruder and bring them back to TCRI for further testing.

End of input

-----------------------------

"Donnie-"

"AH!", I quickly turned around and pressed my hand against my chest, "Leo, what the heck, don't scare me", Leo held up his hands and dropped them a second later, walking over to my desk, and looking at my computer beside me, "What are you doing?". I scrolled to the top of the paragraph "Well, I wanted to distract myself and do some more research on that Transformation cell, and discovered something super fascinating, look", pointing at the date on the screen, I looked back at Leo, "Do you remember what happened that day?"

Shaking his head as he continued to read the paragraph, "That was the day, we stole the power cell from the kraang". Suddenly Leo looked away from the screen, switching his gaze from me and the screen, "And turns out the kraang discovered that one of their transformation cell prototypes was stolen by a mutant, they never saw the mutant, but they saw their human form", I smiled with so much excitement as I told Leo this information, "Here, I haven't watched the videos yet but here-".

I scrolled to the top video and clicked it open, readying to press play, "Wait are you sure a human didn't take it"

"Yes, cause if a human touches the cell, the gem would have no effect on the human, now come watch the footage!"

-----------------------------

Silence filled the room as we finished watching the last of the security footage, I paused the video, perfectly to show Michael running into the elevator, "I knew it...", I turned my gaze over to Leo, who was just as shocked as me, staring blankly at the screen, "I knew that kid was lying", Leo was speechless as he stared at the screen, never tearing his eyes away, "That kid is a mutant just like us-".

"Donnie, I need you to find out why he was hiding his identity from us, even if he doesn't like us, he shouldn't hate us to the point of hiding his real form", I nodded my head as I began to do some research into the kid, searching through the street cams, and see if there's anything more on the kid, finding nothing at all, I started to grow curious as Leo left the lab, 'I wonder what type of mutant he is...'

Chapter Text

(One Month Later)

POV Mikey:

Someone... someone watching me. There's never one moment that I'm actually alone, there's never a moment where I don't feel eyes on me. For an entire month, I've noticed that it was never the same pair, but they were always watching, my walk home, my walk to school, my trip to each class, and even on rare occasions at home, ever since I first felt someone watching me at home, I began closing my curtains in my room, even the ones in the living, but it never helped, I told Mom and she agreed, but there was one thing she noticed, the ones that watched us at home, weren't human.

'From that, point on we double-checked on locks, locking the doors, and even the windows, making sure nothing could come in. Finally, after some time, the feeling disappeared, but we kept our guard in our home. But right now, something's eyes are staring into the back of my head as I walk down the long hallway, and step into the last period of the day, Art Class.

"Alright right listen up! I know you're working on the last project, but eyes up here!", I looked up from today's homework, pausing on an equation to listen to the teacher. She continued to speak as she handed out some clay masks made at the beginning of the week.

"For the rest of today's class, put the Famous Paintings projects away for later, everyone should be done should be almost already done with that project, so come on, put it away-", groans sounded around the room, as everyone put their paintings on the counters, leaning them back to dry the already wet paint, I continued to sit in my desk, happy that I finished the painting a while ago back at the farmhouse.

"Now before you sit down, go get the materials you'll need for this project, and you may be asking, 'What's this week's project', it's easy-", she began walking to the front of the class, and picking up a marker, writing a short yet descriptive list on the board, quietly slamming the marker on the edge of her desk as she finished writing, then turning her attention back to us, "Basically... you guys are going to design them with how many themes you want, as long as the theme is about you. And here are some common themes I've seen-", moving out of the way of the list she points at each one, one by one, "favorite food, favorite hobby, favorite color, favorite animal, stuff like that you can to decorate your mask, but there are two rules, 1. It has to pertain to you, and 2. Nothing inappropriate...alright go".

'Pizza...I'm doing pizza...dangit, I'm hungry now, maybe I can pick one up after school', walking over to the painting wrack, I picked up the paints I needed, yellows, oranges, reds, blacks, whites, and even some browns. Placing them on the table, I pulled out a colored pencil and began sketching the design with the pizza at the top of the mask.

-----------------------

'I can't. Freaking. Focus', tapping my pencil on my hand, I stared at the sketch listening to every small sound play around me, the ticking on the clock, the creaking on the tables, the scraping of pencils, even the quiet dragging of paint brushes over the rough surfaces. I looked at the teacher as she looked over the room, and lifted my hand, catching her attention, she began walking over to my table and leaned over, "You have a question, Michelangelo?"

"Can I listen to music, I can't focus", I whispered carefully as she stood to her full height, "Only with earbuds", she walked back to the front of the class not even sitting back in her desk chair, "Class, I'm letting you know, if you guys want to listen to music, you may only if you have earbuds in. No earbuds, no music"

*RRRIIINNNGGG*

"Alright class is dismissed, but before everyone leaves-, Hey! Kid, get back inside! Anyways...Just so everyone knows the Famous Paintings is going to be due Monday next week, okay class?!"

"Yes Mrs. Mcclade...", the whole class said tiredly, as well as myself, leaving tiredly on the table, "Alright, you may go-, Oh wait Michaelangelo, I would like to stay behind", I froze as a lot of the dudes started chuckling, telling me I was in trouble. I walked to the front of the class as the last student left, with Irma waiting by the door, probably waiting for me.

"Michaelangelo, I have to say, I was looking at all the paintings you always turn in, even the Famous Painting one, you have such a beautiful talent, I must say", I stood there frozen confused by what she said, "Wait you actually like my art?"

"Yes, I'm serious. Michelangelo, I want you to know that I seriously think you have a lot of talent, to which I have a proposition, in three months there's going to be a state-wide competition, signs upstart in three weeks, and I want you to join it!", I continued to stand there frozen, "But-"

"And before you say anything, I want you to think about it over the weekend, okay?", nodded my head as I picked up my backpack, chucking it over my shoulder, putting the paints away, and soaking the brushings in hot water.

"Now have a good weekend and think about what I said, if you do well it goes on your record, but if not, no harm done"

"Alright bye Mrs. McClade", before I could hear her say anything I walked out of the door, carrying my mask in my hand, "Hey Mikey, did you get in trouble with the art teacher?", I turned around, noticing that Irma caught up to walk next to me, "Actually, Irma get this, the teacher likes my art so much that she thinks I should join New York's state wide art competition", seeing my locker not far ahead I quickened my pace and stopped in front of my locker, twisting the lock and forth until I heard the little click and opened my locker.

"So do you think you're going to join it?", I shrugged my shoulders, as I tossed some of my books into my lockers, shutting them quickly behind me, "I'll think about it, but I have to go, I have some training with my Mom, bye!"

"Alright Mikey, see you Monday!", I waved her off as I ran towards the exit, and skipped down the steps, jumping one after another, 'Skip-skip-skip', I jumped onto the puddle at the bottom of the stairs, making my way back home. "Ayo Michael, wait up", my pace stopped for a moment only to speed up when I recognized the voice, 'no no no no no no no no no, please please please, leave me alone!!!', his hand grabbed onto my shoulder, successfully stopping me, "Michael, can we talk real quick?", my palms started to get clammy as he stood near me, 'he knows, oh my god he knows', my breathing became labored as I tried to answer his question only to struggle with my words, "S-sure..."

"Where's Michaelangelo?", I stared down at the ground as I thought over my words, rubbing my palms together, trying to calm myself in any way possible. Casey quickly pulled me into an alley, repeating the question he asked minutes ago, "Michael...Where is Michaelangelo Hamato?"

"I-I *gulp* I'm not sure...*huff* *huff* he's been gone for over a year, Casey-"

"Michael, I know you're lying, I saw him back at the farmhouse", I stared at him as he messed with a hockey puck, tapping it up over and over, waiting for my answer, "I saw Mikey with your Mom, he was there...you weren't"

"But I was, Casey! Mikey left a while ago! Dude, I seriously think you're smoking too much, I think it's affecting your memory-"

"It's not!!!", Casey calm expression became super aggressive as he stared down at me, slamming his hockey stick down on the ground, "Your fucking mom made that up! She lied to April and the guys!!! Your mom's a bi-"

*SLAP*

"DONT YOU EVER FUCKING SAY THAT ABOUT HER!!! SO WHAT IF SHE DID!!! SHE WAS PROTECTING ME!!!", the sound of the slap as well as my voice echoed across the alley, only for me to slap my hand over my mouth, stepping back away from Casey as tears fell down my cheeks, 'oh my god what have I done', he stared at me and at that moment I knew the realization finally set in, "Mikey...is that-", he quickly pulled down my shirt and stared at the crystal, laughing slowly as he back away from me, "I knew I wasn't crazy-"

As fast as I could, I ran out of the alley, sprinting down the crowded streets of New York, "MIKEY WAIT!!!", I stopped on the other side of the street, searching for my way home, "Mikey!!!", I knew that voice, scanning around, I noticed my mom, twenty feet away from me, "Mom", my voice came out breathless as I began racing down the street, I flung open the van and shut it tight locking the door tightly, "どうしたの?!?!?!"

(what's wrong?!?!?!)

"Mom, just drive home please", I pulled my hoodie above my head, making sure no one could see me, but I could still hear Casey calling for me, trying to find me. Without a second thought, she started driving home as the sounds of Casey's voice faded by the distance.

-----------------------

We arrived home a few minutes later, my mom parked in the alley, and turned off the car, saying not one word as I continued to hug my knees, tears rolling down my cheeks, and sniffles sounded out of me. "He...", I wiped my sleeve across my face, trying to dry my face, "Casey found out...", my mom didn't say a word after I spoke, filling me with so much fear when I heard no words, 'Is she mad...'

"I didn't mean for it to happen mama...I-I-he saw *huff* my necklace *gasp* I-I-", she placed her hand on my shoulder, and turned me toward her, "Shhh shhh, 今、彼はクリスタルのないあなたを見ましたか?"

(Now did he see you without the crystal?)

I shook my head as I turned my head down to the floor, tears beginning to drip down my face, "よし、今年の残りの間、この宝石を体のどこか別の場所に着けることになるだろう。そして首に別のネックレスをつけて"

(Good, for the rest of the year, you're going to wear the gem somewhere else on your body. And put on a different necklace around your neck)

She cupped my face, massaging my puffy eyes as she kissed my forehead, "さあ、今日はトレーニングはありません"

(Now come on, no training today)

She pulled me into a tight hug and began scratching small circles into my head, soothing me to sleep, "Thanks Mom"

"問題ないよ、ハニー"

(No problem, honey)

Grabbing my bags, I stepped out of the van and shut the door behind me, using the spare key to open the door, and holding it open as my Mom walked in behind. I locked the door and made my way to the stairs, climbing up each step until walked into the living room, "Hey, Mom, where's the girls?"

"自分の部屋で寝ている..."

(In their room sleeping...)

"Okay, thanks ma", tiredly I dragged my feet toward my room, and dropped my bag and necklace on my bed, turning around, making my way over to the twins' bedroom. Pushing open the door, a gentle warmth rushed out of the room, making me feel more sleepy, I closed the door and began walking over to the blanket that laid on the ground with a heating lamp above, and there napping on top was Jennika and Lita. I slowly slipped myself between the wall and them, feeling myself slip farther and farther into sleep, only to feel one of them press themselves against me, rubbing their snout against my shell, "Mmmm Ba...baaaa', I gently scratched circles into the small one's shell, resulting in them churring in response, 'this...this is my family...'

--------------------------------

POV Casey:

"MIKEY!!! Mikey, come out!!!", I continued to run down the street, searching for their brother as I pushed through the crowds and saw no signs of him. Mikey disappeared, I saw him and couldn't bring him home, I couldn't bring him back to his home. Running past the multitudes of people, I looked over the crowds and saw no puffy hair in the sea of people. "Mikey! Come on..." mumbling the last part, I pushed past everyone in my way, but no one moved, no one did in New York, everyone just minded their business, I ran up to strangers, asking if any of them saw Mikey, giving them each a description, but before I could finish they walked away, without a care in the world, I asked person after person, but no one answered, not one even looked at me when I spoke.

I rushed into the next alley, searching for any sign of Mikey's escape but there was nothing, no evidence, just the echo of the crowds' ongoing conversations banging across the brick walls, making me feel more lonely...

'Why won't anyone listen to me...'

'Why doesn't anyone trust me...'

!!!TW CHILD ABUSE!!!

!!!IF YOU DON'T WANT TO READ SKIP AFTER THE  ITALIC  PARAGRAPHS!!!

l

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\ /

"Arnold! Come on, dinner's ready-, *cough* *cough* Really Arnold, smoking that junk again?! God, what do I gotta do to make ya quit", my Dad stomped away as he slammed the door, causing a loud bang and shaking everything in my room, trash fell to the floor, and even some empty water bottles fell as well. I stared at the ceiling and took a deep breath, watching the fan slowly spin in circles as the buzz burned harder, causing me to laugh at the funny yet nice feeling, relaxing into the sensation. "Dinner does sound good...I wonder what's for dinner..."

I pushed myself up from my bed and took another deep puff, letting the smoke enter my lungs, and feeling that incredible buzz. Releasing the smoke into my room, turning the small space into my personal hotbox, I opened the window just enough to remove the smoke. I walked out of the room, shutting the door as quickly as possible making sure none of the smoke escaped into the apartment. I walked through the apartment, passing room after room, until, I reached the kitchen, where my dad stood there plating his own food and sat at the table.

I walked up to the stove and made my own food, I began to sit down at the table only for my father to scoff at me, "What the hell do you think you're doing", I stood up as I held my plate, not making eye contact with him, "I was just sitting down to eat-"

"Did I say you could fucking sit with me...", I opened my mouth to answer but he didn't give me a chance to answer, he never really did, "No, now take your food and get out of my sight, you smell like shit...fucking addict...", he whispered the last part as he chugged his bottle of beer, before slamming it on the table, and taking a deep breath before he continued eating his food, I nodded my head and turned around, "Yes sir...", leaving the kitchen and made my way to my bedroom, closing the door behind me and locking it.

.

.

.

"Arnold, where were you...", silence filled the room as my father stood at the entrance of my room, clenching a beer tight in his left hand as the other held onto the door frame, trying to hold himself up, "I was with my friend, I told you that remember?"

"*Hic* quit the attitude, now tell me...", he swayed into the room and slammed the door open, stumbling clumsy towards me as I sat on my bed, working on the day's homework, "... where were you ...". Dad stood over my bed as he glared at me, and chugged down the rest of his drink, chucking the bottle into the wall, the shards flew across the room, and one of the shards cut my cheek. "With my frie-"

*SLAP*

" Wrong answer. Where were you, Arnold ", I covered my cheek, feeling the pain spread throughout my cheek, painful tears fell down my cheek as I held my face, staring at my father, "I was! Seriously-"

*SLAP*

"DON'T RAISE YOUR  FUCKING  TONE!!! Do I seriously need to beat the answer out of you?! You know what! Give me all ya fucking weed, clearly that shit is making you stupid and forget where you actually were, cause there is no goddamn way a brat and mistake like you could make friends-"

"But I was Dad-"

"Don't fucking interrupt me, and that's sir to you brat", stumbling across the room, he began digging through all my stuff searching for who knows what, finally after some time he stumbles to his feet and grabbed my shirt, pulling me up from my bed, "Where is it, I'm throwing that shit away", I still held my palm to my cheek, knowing full well the cheek would be bruised tomorrow, "please...sir...I need it...it helps my stres-"

"Stress! Hah! God, I didn't know you could get any dumber, and what stress do you have?! You're a fucking kid, you're too young to even know what stress is! You're fucking ten-"

"Sir, I'm Fifteen-"

*CRASH*

I was thrown into the dresser, my head became dizzy as my father walked closer to me, kicking me right in the gut over and over, bruising my stomach, until it stopped, I pulled my hands away from my head as he walked towards the door, glaring at me as he held the knob. He just glared at me, then slammed the door, leaving me trembling at the foot of my dresser, the back of my head bleeding from the shallow cut, my head growing dizzier by the second, I stared at the ceiling as I held the part of my head that hurt, holding pressure on the wound, until I slipped into darkness, falling asleep until the next morning...

!END OF TRIGGER WARNING!

I stared at the brick wall, listening to the people's voices bounce off the walls, I shoved my hands into my pocket and pulled out my pen, fiddling with the metallic tube in my hands, using my thumb to push it back and forth over my palm. 'Maybe I was hallucinating...maybe...', walking out of the alley, I started making my way home, cutting through the crowd of people, 'Maybe I never saw Mikey...", I stared at the pen and stuffed it into my pocket, and looked up to the sea of crowds, seeing no sign of my classmate, 'Was every time I saw him...a hallucination?'

Chapter Text

POV Mikey:

Silence filled the void as I walked closer to the small voices that echoed in the distance, one was yelling what seemed like a single command as the sound of objects clashed in the distance. I continued to walk towards the voice as the darkness faded away, forming the once dark void into what seemed like...the sewers? Sounds of water dripped onto the concrete, the bottom of my feet tapping the wet floor as I continued down the dark tunnel

Where am I?

I walked over to the side of the bricked tunnel, and grazed my thumb across the wet walls, dragging it across the water and algae, twisting the green plant between my fingers, feeling the consistency.

Hey...

I flipped around towards the end of the tunnel, my hands covered in algae as I stared at the child who stood in the darkness, their feet barely visible in the light, slowly they walked towards me, swaying side to side until finally their face showed...it was...me, but younger? He stepped closer and closer, then stopped, standing more than a foot away from me, reaching for my hand. Seeing the sudden movement, I yanked my hand away, terrified as the younger me kept reaching, trying to grab onto my hand, not giving up, then stopped and looked up at me, showing the saddest yet most confused expression I've seen.

Why are you scared...why do you fear me...

His voice was so empty as he stared at me, his eyes empty of any emotion, he turned around, staring into the dark void of the sewers. Small foot taps sounded in the background, growing louder as time passed on, then stopped standing at the end of the sewer tunnel. I stared at the creatures, the figures stood in the darkest, sharing no resemblance to my younger self as they stared at him, not saying anything. I watched as one of them walked up to him, glaring down at him.

/̴̨̡̣̖͈͚͋ͅ'̵̨̧̛̤̬͇̤͖[̷̟͊́͛̔͂̚]̶͙͍͇̹̉̋͗̈́̇͐̚/̸̡̛̼̈́͐̿̔̇̌'̸͍̹̦̼̭̗̖̓̓͆[̵̛͈̫͙̫͔̜͖̈̿]̶̱̰̆͛͒̚/̶̡̻̙̭͐̿̂͜'̸̢̢̭̫͉͍̝̂]̵͕̠̺̂͘̕͝[̷̡̳̱͚̄͗̔̽͜!̷̗̥͔̳̩͚̂̀͒̈́͘@̴̧̨͙̪͊̅̊̇#̴̧͔̯̻̜̯̆͒̉̈́̇̚̕$̴̢͍̬̱͚̦̊͋͋́̚%̵̧̙̠̖͗̅̀͑̆͑^̶̢̧̬̝̹͓͛̔͜&̶͍̿*̷̩͎̜͕͚̗̑ͅ(̷̲̱͍̟͉̝̫̏͋)̵̛̟̠̗̆̽̐͊͆̚_̷͐̾͐̏͊͋̋ͅ+̸̛̘͈͎̭̏̒̃̈́̔_̶̢̬͔̏̈́̌̃̿)̷̨̯̯̺̣͊́͊̇̀͜(̵͕̠̺͝ͅ*̷̛̫̙̼̋̃̆͠&̴̯̬͍̺̞̩̏͂̾̚^̶̝̮̠́%̷̨̝̝͓̐̑̊́͝$̵̙̮͙̝͇͐̔̓͌͗͗͝ͅ#̷̛̘̥̀̒̈́͛̉̐

No words fell out of the creatures mouth, yet something so familiar came from the creature. The figure with glowing blue eyes glared at him and grabbed his wrist pulling him towards the void, the small turtle tried to pull away from the creature's hold, reaching for me once again before switching his gaze back to the creature.

/̷̧̨͓̞̠̲̊̈́̃'̸̢͓͇͑̓̔͝[̷͔̼̠͚̝̏͛̾]̵͓͚̇̈́̑̎͋̐̀/̷̱͕̝͙͉̬͂ͅ'̵̜̪̩͎̘̭̠̉̎̔̄̽̊̀[̸̢̥̩̐]̴͚̥̣͂͊̂! I don't want to train! I want to play with my new friend!

The figure only responded by tugging him harder, pulling him deeper into the darkness, the small turtle whined in pain, telling the older creature that it was hurting him, but none of them cared, none of the three cared that he was receiving pain, acting as if...he disserved it. Without a second thought, I ran after the small turtle, running straight into the darkness, only for the three to disappear, I spun around in circles, searching the void.

M̷͕͙̟̦̠̪̯̳̦̈͘̚̚i̴͕̻͇͓͉̒͝k̸̡̥̠̾̿͜ͅe̶̞͎̟̠͍̩̚y̸̟̽̓͆́̔̔͝

The voice sounded out in a static, sounding as if multiple voices were speaking, yet felt like only one person spoke, I ran towards the voice, as a small light blinked into my vision, I quickened my pace and saw...a tree. I was confused, was I outside again? I ran closer and closer, then stopped standing at the base of the tree, taking in the beautiful sight, I looked around, confused to see a room surrounding the grand plant, the room wasn't fully there, just the outline. I walked closer to the tree and sat down at its trunk taking in the beautiful sight.

M̸̡̫̭̥̮̘͉͐͛͂̋̊̐͝i̶̫̮̔͊̚k̵͕̜̽̉̐͆͊̽͜ė̸̎ͅy̴̦̪͕̔ ̵͇́̈́̇̀̓̈́̽ͅw̵͙̼̤͖͑͝h̴̛̫̭̙̊̅͒̄͝ê̶͉̦͛͐͐̂̀r̷̤̼̝̞͒̈̈̆̏̀͠ȩ̷̘̦̺̳͊͝ ̶̧̥͚̜̹͕͕͛̉̀̃á̶̳̠r̶̮͚̣͎̞͔̒͂͆͗̑͝͝ẽ̷̗͓̼̥͕̟͑̏̕ ̶̛̪͑͌́̇̈́͘͝y̷̡̹̤̲̙̽̀͑̆ọ̵̌̃̈́̎ŭ̵̱͔̭̻͎̱̈́̐̔̽͜͝͝ͅ

Suddenly a light burned bright behind me, lighting up the small area I sat in, I turned around to see the same creature as before, a dark figure with bright glowing eyes, its eyes were closed yet its eyes showed through, meditating just a few feet away from the tree, sitting in the perfect locus position. I decided to join it, scooting closer to the creature, I copied its posture and watched as the creature, took deep breaths, curiously I reached to touch the creature's hand, but it jumped away, aiming what seemed to be a sword directly at me, its expression glared at me, but froze, lowering it's weapon as it's face changed to one of sorrow, dropping the weapon to the ground.

M̸̧̮̻̺̳͙̂͝i̷͎̣̻͌̈́͌k̵̜͇̹͈͇͍̍̾ͅe̴̼̊̾̀̐̈́ͅy̷̥͕̲̗̩͓͋̋

I touched its hand as it reached to me, the touch hurt almost giving off the same feeling as being burned, but I continued to touch its fingers. I looked up at the creature a second too late as it lunged towards me, pulling me into a hug, it felt weird as it continued the hug, so I just sat there, not touching the creature as it cried into my body, trembling terribly. But I was confused, how did it know my name, I mean this is a dream, but this felt too real, dreams shouldn't hurt, yet in my chest, my throat my eyes, they burned, why were they burning, who is this creature...

Who are you...

The creature backed away from me, staring at me with so much solemn, I no longer reached for the creature, no longer curious to touch its hands, it reached to hold my face, but I backed away confused by the creature's antics.

M̸̧̼͉̘͉̝̄͒͛̿͝i̶̯̟͚̐̏̀͗͋͋̊ḳ̴̡̰͖̒̋͠e̵̡̓̇͌y̴̨̛̟͒̔͠͝͝,̵͉̕ ̸̱̣̫̖͉͂̈́̄̃̄̀į̷̲͚̥̠̪̆̇̿͐̽́͠t̴̨͐̀̐s̵̛̙̭̍̋̂̓̽̋ ̶̛̘̤̮̖̘̪̱̃̄̿͋͝m̵̗̣̓̔̅ê̶̘̗̩̤̦̯̊́̾̈́͆,̷̨̩͈͋̿͠͠ ̴͓͉̲͚̝̦͉́̑ỳ̶͈͎͕̏o̴̹̮͚͕̙͛̌͂u̷͇̱͚̬̪͝r̴͈̫͚̆̏̔̈́ ̷̳͔̈̿̓̒͑̌͘)̴̛̘̏̃͝(̴̻̏̏͛͛̕*̸̨̥̫͉̳͒͐̋̚͝&̷͈̫͚̺̏̈́^̶͇̼͈͚̣̞̍%̷͉̣́̔͝^̵̘͍̭̟͔̹͑̽͌̈́͐͘͝&̷̰̥̦̄

This had to be a dream, why could I understand some of its words, so I just shrugged my shoulders as I stared at the figure in front of me, watching more glowing tears drip down its shadowed face, and pushed myself up, walking towards the tree and facing away from the creature.

How did we meet...

I turned back to the creature, who continued to stare at me, its eyes wide open as it stood to its feet, shaking its head.

M̷̼̙͙̝̏̃i̶̟̗̞̐͛̒̅̊̈̎̍͘͠͝ḱ̷̛̼͚͉̿̽̍̑̄̔ȇ̷̛̺̀̈́̈y̶͉̜̱̟͕̺̖̯̯̐̓̈̿̀͑͛̍̚ ̴͈̱̱̦͎̄̅̆̆͋̽̉̀͂!̴̨̛̲̺̲̯̤͙͇̲͙̊̈̓͒̿̽̕@̵̬̦̤̮̪̈́̐̍͐̋̊̀́#̵̢̘̼̦̫̩͐̎̂̋̏͊$̶͖̮̹͍̣̘̣̗͉̰̜̂́%̵̧̟̺̄̾̇͌͋̀̒͗^̷̧͍̤̖̻̩̼̿̈́͘ͅ&̴̧̢̮̹̱̖̫̞̦̇͌̐̉͒͑̈́̈͜*̶͇̭̜̝̩̱͌̉̅̾̈́̈́̑͛̚͘(̸̡̲̮̯͎͈̭̹͎͔͍̐͛̿)̵̨̙̙͕͈͈̦͔͉̥͗̄!̴̡̢̞̟̣̗̜͖͍̖̀͗̾͆ͅ@̶̧̩͙̌͛̈͆͛̃͘͝#̶͈̤̖̼̜̘̅̑̽̑$̸̟̦͎̞̼͓̣̎̊̃̉͛̓̀͌̍͘͠ͅ%̴̼͚͎̭̘̰̟̝͌̈́͊́̏͂̾̚͠^̵͓͇͖̙̫̺̻̙̙̞̅̂̓̇̈́̓̄̔&̸̧̭̿̀̈̊̚͝͝*̸͕̳̱͔̜̊͆̓ͅ(̶͔̬̣̜̱̙̳̣͓͈͑̿̽̌̀̾̽͆̽͛̏͜#̶̢̨̛͉̹̼͇͍̣̪͚̘̃̓̄̃$̴̨̛̺͖̞̼̯̞͋͛̐̐%̶̯̐͊̉͌̌͗̿̿̚͝^̶̝̬̰̺̞̭̓̎̐̔̊͂̾̐̀͘͝&̵̰͊́͒*̵̻̗̹͌̈́́̈́̒̈͂͘͝(̸̢̭͚͈̠̠̝̦̪̜̈̑̍̑̓̑̃̑)̷͈̲̝̻͓̟͎̖̻̎̄̌̊̍̇̈́̈́͑_̵̨̳͚̜̹͎̽̍#̵̯̯̭͉̖̳̘͓̜͉̈́͊̃̃̒̈̌͜$̸̪̹̦̪̭̳̳͕̥͚̙̈́̋͒̇̊̐%̶̨̧͉͈̦̻̫̣̬̆͊̚͜ͅ^̸͔̄̏͆̽̐&̷̡̛̬̱͖͔̜̰̊͌̍̆́̍

I flinched as a soft tap hit my shell, smacking my belly over and over, hushed voiced echoed around me, I chuckled as I recognized the voices, and turned back to the tree, taking in one final deep breath, smelling nothing but emptiness, nothing entered my lungs and no air left my lungs.

I guess this dream's ending, the others are waiting for me, Goodbye...

I smiled as I turned back to the creature, whose eyes poured a flowing river, tears glowing as they fell down its cheek, falling to the ground. It continued to call out to me, sounding so desperate as it reached for me, but its hands faded through me, when suddenly everything went black, followed by the sound of the creature screaming my name.

-----------------------

"Shhhh!!! Tah-Taaaah. Baba seepyyyyy", I peeled open my eyes barely, looking at my surroundings, 'too bright...too loud...', I moved onto my back, feeling one of them fall onto my stomach, "Kah-kah, cuuuddddlesss", I chuckled quietly as Lita whined, pressing her forehead aggressively into my arm.

"Mmmm, come here stinker", I mumbled as loud as I could, catching Lita's attention, "Yayyyyy!!!", I pulled Lita up to my chest, letting her lay on top of me. I looked over at Jennika, who stared at me, waitingly, "You too honey", she happily crawled towards me as her tail wagged, climbing onto my belly and pressing the side of her head on my shell.

"I'm gonna get up now...", Lita shook her head as well as Jennika, begging me to stay, "I'll come back later, I just need some fresh air real quick, okay?", Jennika slowly slid off and looked up at me, "Come on sweet pea, you too", I picked her up from my chest and stood to my feet, pushing the door wide open, and walking towards the living room. Placing her on the ground, I turned on the TV, and scrolled to Spiderman, playing the movie for the girls as I set Lita down in front of the screen with Jennika right next to her. The two were always infatuated with the characters in Spiderman, Lita always wanted arms like Dr. Octavius, while Jennika just wanted to be just like Spiderman.

Walking behind the couch, I opened a door that led to the roof and began climbing the steps, as I climbed the steps I placed my necklace on and stuffed my hands in my pockets, continuing my climb until I reached the roof, feeling the cool breeze on my face. I walked over to the edge of the building and sat on the ledge, taking in the sunset view of the city. Taking in a deep breath as I closed my eyes, thinking of the forest from the farmhouse, 'I wish I could go back...'

*SSSCCCRRREEEAAACCCHHH*

'What the...', backing away from the ledge, I peeked over only to find two kraang droids standing behind a black van, clock the view of them from the rest of the street. The droids continued to talk as others carried weapons into the garage, crates upon crates of kraang weapons being carried into the garage. "Alert the one that is known as Sub Prime, the three transformation cells have been what is known as perfected and are ready to be multiplied for the rest of kraang-kind, kraang requests a motor vehicle to pick up the assets".

I crept away from the edge and twisted onto my feet, racing towards the door. Pulling the door open and then shut, I raced down the stairs and sprinted toward my bedroom, searching for my weapons, "うわあ！ マイキーは大丈夫ですか?!"

(Whoa! Mikey is everything okay?!)

"ああ、お母さん、完璧なタイミング！私のカマとヌンチャクはどこにありますか?"

(Oh Mom, perfect timing! Where are my kama and nunchucks?)

She looked confused, and turned around, walking down to the dojo, and opened the weapons case, handing them carefully into my hands as she continued to stare at me, "ホン、何が起こっているの?"

(Hon, what's going on?)

"Do you remember those droids that broke into the house a while ago?", she hummed and nodded her head as she crossed her arms, "Well, while I was on top of the roof, I heard a conversation between a few of the droids-"

"待って？！何？！彼らは外にいるよ!"

(Wait?! What?! They're outside!)

"Mom! Yes, they are, but they don't attack often, they only attack citizens when they're taking over the earth...", she stared at me, confused and just out of words as she continued to stare at me, "Mom...the droids perfected the crystals, the exact one I'm wearing now, and if I don't go get them right now, those things are going to have the crystals and we won't be able to tell who's us and who's not...", as I ended my sentence silence filled the room, my mom rubbed her face, and walked away from me, making her way to a tall dresser that stood off to the side of the room.

"Mom...what are you doing....", she didn't answer all she did was pull out a box and walk back over to me, placing the box in my hands, "何年も前、義父が私にこのユニフォームをくれました。このユニフォームは、練習するとき、戦うとき、そして...死んだときに着るものだと言いました。"

(Years ago, my father-in-law gave me this uniform, he told me that this uniform is one that I will wear when I trained, when I fought, and when... I died)

I looked down at the box and opened up the top staring at the uniform, "あなたにこれを着てほしいのです...この家族に敬意を表するために...そして私の過去にも敬意を表します..."

(I want you to wear this...to honor this family...as well as my past...)

Turning around the corner, I walked toward the staffroom and put on the uniform, tying it on as tight but as comfortably as possible, The top was sleeveless, but my arms and legs were covered in wraps, my face covered with a mask and hidden by a hood. But there was one thing that looked so familiar, the symbol, a flower surrounded by a circle.

I walked out of the staffroom and stood in front of my mom, standing to my full height, letting her look over the uniform and taking in the sight. She reached for my hand and placed a small pouch of powder into my hand, "これは目もくらむパウダーです。効果は 1 分間だけです。慎重に使用してください。誰にも、つまり誰もあなたの顔を見られないように注意してください。誰も家までついてこないようにしてください...そして最後に、この状況に対処できないと思われる場合は、位置情報を私に送ってください。ためらわずにあなたを助けに行きます..."

(This is blinding powder, it only works for one minute, use it wisely. Make sure no one and I mean no one sees your face. Make sure no one follows you home...And last but not least, if you think you can't handle the situation, please send me your location, and I will not hesitate to come to rescue you...)

I smiled as I hugged her, happy she was willing to rescue me, running over to the counter and picking up my weapons, sliding them nicely into their holsters. I charged up the stairs into the living and turned around running up the stairs onto the roof, locking the door behind me, 'Alright let's do this'.

-----------------------

'God, where the heck is this warehouse', I jumped across the buildings my feet barely making any sounds as they hit the cement roof. I tried to remember where the kraang's warehouse stood, I searched the entire southwest side of the city, searching for over an hour, looking for any sign of the kraang. I scanned over the alleyways until I saw one, a single droid guarding the lonely warehouse, I dropped quietly down the fire escape and crept towards the droid, pulling out my kama. I stepped closer and grabbed him from behind, thrusting the blade into the belly of the machine, stabbing the blade over and over and over, turning the creature into something unrecognizable, almost sharing the same resemblance as minced hamburger meat. Standing to my full height, I glared down at the minced creature, and slid the weapons back into the holster, not caring enough to clean off the alien's blood on the blade.

I peeked around the corner and saw an additional kraang droid, standing at the entrance of the building, I climbed up the ladder and tip-toed around the roof, noticing that the droid out front was the only one guarding the outside. I ran to the edge of the roof and jumped down, landing on the ground and making not one noise. Swiftly I pulled the droid around the corner, stabbing my blade into its head, letting the droid go and fall to the ground next to the other. Climbing the fire escape, I sped towards the skylight, and opened the window, plopping right onto the platform that overlooked the whole warehouse. Looking around the inside of the building, I counted the number of droids, 'one, two, three...ten, there's ten droids', I pulled out my nunchucks, and jumped down from the platform hiding behind some crates. 'Someone's watching me...', I looked around, but I couldn't tell where they were coming from, all I knew was that I needed to hurry.

A kraang droid walked towards me and followed its normal path, from what I remember every droid walked a certain path a certain way, but they were all the same. I reached over the crate and pulled the droid towards me, covering its kraang mouth, I pulled out my blade and stabbed the creature into the side of the droid's head, dropping the droid shell behind me, hearing the sound of the kraang alien squeal away. Stepping out from behind the crates, the droids turned towards me and aimed their weapons at me, swinging the nunchuck around a droid and threw the machine at another, knocking the two out across the entire room, laser flew by me as I jumped away, putting my nunchucks away, I pulled out my kamas and charged at the robots, slicing my blades through the droid's neck, legs, anything to take them out, I stared at the last droid and sprinted towards it, my feet hitting the ground but making no sound.

I sliced my blade through the droid's chest, and pulled it up through the top of his head of the final droid, watching as the machine fell to the ground, I scanned the room and found a briefcase sitting carefully next to the large computer, I ran to the case and popped it open, 'it's the gems...', I quickly locked it shut and looked towards the exit, my ticket way home. 'They're going to create more of these with the information they have...if I...', I looked over to the exit and pulled the garage down shut, locking it shut.

I ran back over to the computer, and looked at the foreign technology, and began tapping cautiously away at the screen, 'Wait this is super easy!', I started tapping at the bright surface, watching as files upon files about the transformation cell pulled up on the board, 'I need to delete these, that will stall this for another decade, at least by then...I'll be gone', I started to tap away, watching as the many files started deleting files upon files, disappearing from the kraangs' system, disappearing forever, and with the last file, I tapped the keyboard watching as the last one disappeared, 'There...that should do it'.

I looked over at the crystals and walked towards them, popping the briefcase wide open, 'I wonder..what it would feel like...', growing curious I reached around my neck, and pulled off the necklace laying them right next to the perfected ones, a flash of pink lit up the area around me, turning myself back into a turtle. The sound of a weapon sounded behind me, powering up, "Halt, the one that is known-", I twisted around and pulled out one of my kamas, throwing it as the blade landed in the droid's metallic skull. I ran towards the droid and stabbed its belly with the blade, pulling the blade out, and watching the droid fall to the ground.

I turned around and reached for the perfected crystals, "Mikey...is that-", I pulled out my nunchucks and turned around, glaring at the foreign voice, that was until I recognized one of the faces, my body stood tall as I grabbed my weapon tighter into my grip, standing my ground from a distance, "How?...", I said as I glared at the three turtles that looked at me, my breath came out labored as I looked at each one of them, trying to catch my breath, "How do you know my name...", their eyes wide and filled with so much shock.

-----------------------

POV ???:

"Kraang, needs you to capture the one known as the orange turtle, finally after one human year, we finally discovered the entity of the intruder that stole Kraang's property", I scoffed as the lowly creature ordered me around, treating me like some lower servant, "And what makes you think, I'll work with your kind, you foiled my plans on killing that disgusting dishonorable man", Kraang Prime, made a disgusting noise as it glared at me, showing off its sharp teeth, "If you help us captured the orange turtle as well and our transformation cells, Kraang will create more of those soldiers for you, I can tell...you clearly need more...than those measly humans", I thought over the Kraang deal as I looked over my soldiers, all untrained and weak, "Fine, I'll bring you that turtle-"

"And cells...", I groaned as the creature interrupted me, giving me the smuggest face, "and cells, and you'll make me soldiers, just like the last, deal"

"Deal...and do not tell what is known as a soul about this, if anything were to discover this that is known as a transaction...the deal is off", Kraang spoke before the screen went out leaving the room silent.

"Find that turtle, and bring him to me...no matter what it takes..."

Chapter Text

PLEASE READ THE NOTES ABOVE, IF YOU HAVEN'T

POV Leo:

"MIKEY!!!", in an instance the void around me disappeared as my voice echoed off the walls, Mikey's voice no longer within range, I yelled for him, begging that he could hear me as the void fulling vanished bringing me all the way back to the dojo. Silent fell inside the dojo as I stared at the tree as it dropped a single leaf onto the ground, crawling back into the lotus position, I squeezed my eyes tight, tears continued to drip down my cheek. I tried so hard to go back, but nothing was working, I closed my eyes so tight, begging for Mikey to come back and talk to him, but his voice never spoke, I crawled closer to the tree and rested my head on its truck, 'please don't be dead, oh fuck, please don't be dead', I begged, hoping that was not his last words, I continued to try calming myself to meditate, but it didn't work, "Mikey. Please. No no no, don't go, please!-"

"Leo?!", Raph's footsteps walked towards me, but I didn't turn back to him, I continued to stare at the tree and slowly cleaned my face, drying my cheeks with the cloth that wrapped around my forearm. I took a deep breath before I answered Raph, making sure I sounded calm and collected, "Yes, Raph is something wrong?", my voice trembled in the beginning, hoping that Raph didn't notice, "Leo, yes something's wrong are you okay, I heard screaming-"

"I didn't hear any screaming...?", I stood to my feet and picked up my swords, carrying them over to the weapons racks, and stopping in front of it. Kneeling down to the ground, I placed the polish next to the swords and stared at the empty spot in front of me, the place that held Mikey's nun-chucks. "Leo, come on you know everyone heard you, Master Splinter probably heard you too, now spill it"

"It was nothing okay. Now go get ready for patrol...-"

"Guys!-", turning towards the entrance of the dojo, Casey stared at us, urging us to follow, "-It's the Kraang ball thing, it's talking, come on!", racing out of the room, I chased after Casey with Raph on my tail. Casey pulled open the door, I ran in and stopped next to Donnie's desk, watching as he typed into his computer listening to the sphere speak weirdly, "Donnie, did you figure out what it's saying?!"

"No, at the moment, I'm trying to translate the kraang dialect into a more lucid speech", Donnie continued to type into the computer until finally, the speech changed.

"Sub-Prime, three of the products known as the Transformation Cells have been perfected for transportation and duplication Kraang requests a vehicle to pick up the assets. Sub-Prime, three of the products known as the Transfo-"

Before the transmission could continue, Donnie paused the message and turned towards us, his eyes widened wider than I've ever seen, "Do you guys know what this means?!", shrugging my shoulders, I walked over to Donnie and stood behind him, watching as he hacked into Kraang's files, and scrolling straight through each file, "If we find a way to steal those gems from the kraang, not only would we stop their plans, but we'll have a chance to be human! We can duplicate one of them and give one to Master Splinter!", I was frozen, the news sounded impossible, us as humans. Backing away from Donnie, I looked down at my hands, 'we can be...human', Donnie clicked on one of the files, and turned back towards us, "Wait you can make more gems?!", Donnie opened his mouth but nothing came out, he turned back towards the computer, "Most likely the Kraang documented the process of duplicating the gems, however, the duplication must be difficult since it took them years to create only three of these cells, so doing this process could take me a really long time to recreate".

Donnie walked off to the side of the room, searching through his filing cabinets, pulling out a small device, and walking back to us, "However, in a small possibility I have this-", showing us a small flash drive, placed perfectly in the center of his palm, "-this will download all of the files onto the drive, giving me access the files, but not the Kraang. Taking the files away from the Kraang will set them back for years maybe even a decade-"

"Perfect Donnie, do you have any idea about the position of the pick-up site?", placing the drive on the table, Donnie turned around and pulled up some coding system, typing as quickly as possible, "While Donnie searches for the pickup site, there could be a few places the crystals could be-"

"Boom, got it! Warehouse on 58th Street, two miles away from TCRI, based on past missions they will be picking up the transformation cells at exactly 8:30 in the night-"

"That's in an hour, alright, everyone get ready to leave in ten!", I turned towards Casey as everyone nodded their heads, "And Casey, call April, you two are going to be looking out at TCRI, you're only job is to call us the moment the van leaves the building, now everyone go get ready!"

I turned around and stepped out of Donnie's lab, walking straight to the dojo, and stopping right in front of Sensei's room. I knocked on the door, and waited for my cue, hearing it not long after, "Come in, how can I help you, Leonardo"

I grew nervous as I closed the door behind me, but made sure not to show it, standing tall and calm, releasing the deep breath I was holding, "Sensei, is it possible for someone to show up in one's mind will they meditate", pushing himself up to his feet, he turned towards me, "Why do you ask, Leonardo"

"Well, early while I was meditating, someone broke into my mind, they didn't harm me, but...", I looked away from Sensei, and looked towards the ground, "But?", unable to keep the nervousness down, I looked back up at Sensei, "It was Mikey, Master Splinter, he...he was there. I don't know how, but he was there! But what was weird was that he didn't recognize me?!"

Sensei took a deep breath as he lit some incense, barely lighting the dim room, his back turned towards me, "Two people connecting mentally through meditation isn't impossible, however, the method is quite difficult for beginner students, I am not surprised that you were able to achieve this skill, you are quite spiritually evolved compared to the rest of your brothers, but Michaelangelo? That is...interesting, your youngest brother has always had a difficult time sitting still compared to the rest of you boys, however, he did state that in his time away he would try becoming stronger, so the possibility isn't impossible...", his voice sounded doubtful as he turned towards me, messing with the small bunch of hair that hung from his chin, "If you ever get the chance and meet your brother during meditation again, talk to him"

"Alright Sensei, thank you for your input", I bowed my head and turned towards the exit of his room, walking towards my weapons and picking them off the rack, "Alright, let's do this".

-------------------------

Leaping towards the top fire escape, I sprinted across the worn-down concrete of the rooftops, and looked down the opposite direction, watching as Casey and April sprinted to TCRI. I turned back and quickened my pace, Raph chuckling as he tried to pass me up, while Donnie was a little behind, messing with one of his recent inventions. I jumped over the buildings, running faster and faster as I passed Raph and landed on the edge of the building, staring down at the warehouse. The two came and stopped next to me, I hushed the others, watching multiple droids carrying crates around the buildings, some bringing boxes in, while others carried them out, trashing them out on the side of the building.

Looking towards Donnie, he continued to type into his invention, a small sound repeated as he waved the device, finally aiming towards the warehouse, the beeping sped up. "Alright, the transformation cells are inside, I'm seeing the three on my screen-, wait no...four?", Donnie moved in between me and Raph, and showed me the screen, on the device three dots were together closely in one spot, while another was a few spots away, next to the warehouse.

I looked up towards the building and scanned the area around the building, "Four?! But didn't they say they only created three, right?!", I whispered loudly as I watched some Kraang droids walk around the building, Donnie continued to look at the warehouse, switching his gaze from the building and his device, "Yeah, so why...-, wait look!", Donnie loudly whispered and pointed towards the building next to the warehouse, looking at the top of the adjacent building, a figure crouched over the edge, then stood to their full height, I looked over the figure's outfit, wearing a tradition black ninja uniform with a red belt. The figure looked over the edge and pulled out its weapon as it jumped into the alley, disappearing into the darkness.

"Guys, what's a foot soldier doing here?!", I stared at the figure harder, wondering the same question, that was until the figure turned around, giving me full attention to the symbol on their back, designed in the softest white, "Guys... that's not a foot soldier look...", pointing towards the figure, Raph and Donnie stared at the figure both suddenly became visibly shocked, "They're from the Hamato Clan?".

"Sensei said he left all of the clan in Japan, what's a clan member doing here?", Raph continued to question the both of us and turned back towards the warehouse, watching the figure hide in the shadows and disappear entirely. Suddenly a kraang droid disappeared into the alleyway, slowly the fight came further into the light only for the solo fight to end...gruesomely. The figure stabbed the kraang, not the droid, the actually kraang, killing the creature entirely, I stood there shocked as I watched the figure repeatedly stab the alien, then stopped, staring down at the creature as they slid their weapon away.

Silence played loudly around the three of us as I watched the figure continue their mission, and take down droid after droid, before running to the top of the roof, looking through the skylight window, Donnie turned towards us, showing his device as the fourth dot moved with the figure, Donnie broke the silence and looked back at the stranger, "They...they just killed...", I decided not to focused on the new stranger and made sure to get everyone back on track, "Guy's come on, we need to focus and get the gems, let's go", running off to the side of the building, I climbed down the fire escape and sprinted across the street, hiding on the side of the warehouse, and waiting for the others to join my side.

As I waited for the others to join, I looked through the window and saw the stranger crouching inside the warehouse, hiding behind the crates that were stacked high on the side of the building. I turned around and noticed the other two beside me, "Alright, let's go", climbing to the top of the warehouse, I looked through one of the many skylight windows, and watched as the droids carried on the business without a care in the world. Paying no attention to droids in the building, I paid more attention to the stranger who peeked out the side of the box and pulled a droid behind the crates, gripping its mouth as they shoved the droid into the ground, the droid struggled against their hold as the figure pulled out a different weapon, however, their weapon seemed familiar, where have I seen those nun-chucks before, stabbing the blade into alien, spilling it's blood all over the dirt-covered concrete and stood to their feet, just for a second I could see their eyes, but what was weird was that they were pure white.

Walking out from behind the crates, the figure swung his blade around and wrapped the chain around a droid, swinging the bot around and knocking out multiple droids in their path, leaving five to go, lasers shot towards as they easily dodged them and sprinted towards the droids slicing the limbs off and pulling the wires out of the robots, they trapped the kraang creatures in their casing, then turned towards the last one that stood next to a computer, aiming its weapon at the intruder. Slowly the ninja walked towards the droids, holding a different weapon, 'Wait?! When did they???', I started at the figure confused as to how they switched their weapon out so quickly without the three of us noticing.

The figure's pace changed in less than a second and sped up as they charged towards the droid, stabbing them in the stomach and pulling the blade up through its head causing it to fall to the ground, staining their feet in alien blood. I stared at the stranger as he stared at what seemed to be a briefcase and rubbed their hand over the black material, picking it up, they looked towards the exit, but stopped switching their gaze back to the computer. Quickly the stranger ran toward the large metal garage door and slammed it shut, locking the door as he ran back to the computer.

They stared at the computer and began typing into Kraang's computer, they started out hesitant, typing slowly until their typing sped up, and files upon files popped up on the screen, disappearing just as fast, "No! Guys we have to get in there!", I switched my gaze over to Donnie as he tried prying the skylight window open, struggling as he nervously switched his gaze between the handle and the figure, "Why what's wrong?!", carefully I hopped over to Donnie trying to rip open the window, "They're deleting the files!!!", Donnie yelled frantically as he finally ripped open the window, and jumped down onto the platform.

Quickly, I pulled Donnie close to me and covered his mouth, pushing the two of us flat on the ground, hiding from the figure below. Not long after Raph joined us on the platform, "Leo, looked what you did, they deleted all the files-"

"Shhh, wait!", I whispered to Donnie and watched as the figure looked at the briefcase, popping it right open, 'What are you...', I analyzed the figure as they reached into the outfit, pulling some kind of necklace, 'wait is that?!', the figure pushed the gem across his palm using his thumb, "Donnie, that gem?! Isn't that the same from-"

"Definitely, but what is that kid doing here, and how did he get his hands on a Hamato clan uniform-", before Donnie could finish, the kid placed the cell on the cushion in the briefcase, causing a flash of pink to light up the room, temporarily blinding all three of us. Rubbing my eyes, I blinked a few times and looked down at the kid, frozen in place as I stared at the figure, 'Mikey...', I stared at the turtle that disappeared over a year ago, his face barren of any cloth just like his arms and legs, he stood there wearing no wraps, no knee pads, nothing...

"Halt, the one that is known-", it happened so fast as I watched the droid fall not even a minute later, Mikey spun on his feet and chucked his weapon at the droid's head, causing the kraang to become disorientated, but before I could jump down, Mikey pulled out the weapon that was stuck in the droid's skull, and stabbed the kraang droid directly into the bot's stomach, squeals filling the building, he pulled out the blade, shoving it back into the holster, and cleaning his forehead with his arm, removing all the sweat.

'Mikey, he...he just killed...', landing on the ground, I faced Mikey's back as he continued to walk back to the briefcase, and reached for the gems, in that moment I finally gained his attention, "Mikey...is that-", twisting on his heels, he stared at me and for a quick second he just stared at me, then shook his head, standing to his full height, 'When did Mikey grow...so much...', in a deep tone, Mikey growled at the three of us, "Mikey, where have you been, everyone was worried sick- We were worried sick!", he just continued to stare at us as his eyes turned a bright white as he switched his gaze between the three of us, saying not one answer to our multitude of questions, "How?...", Mikey finally answered as he glared at me, watching me stepped closer, fear started to grow within me, watching Mikey try to catch his breath, almost looking like he would faint any second, "How do you know my name..."

'What...', I stopped in my tracks as I stared at him, I was so confused as he continued to growl at us, 'He's...he's lying', I stood tall as I lifted my hands, showing I was unarmed, trying to calm my youngest brother down, "Mikey come on, quit with the games it's time to go home", I begged internally, praying it was true, he had to remember us, he had to remember his family, "It's us...your brothers remember?...", my voices trembled for the second time tonight, stepping closer to Mikey and reaching out my hands, hoping he let me grab his own, but he didn't, the moment I stepped forward, he, in turn, did move, his face full of confusion, stepping closer towards the briefcase, switching his gaze between me and the case.

"I...I don't...", tears fell down his face as he noticed the distance between us and pulled the case close to his chest, hugging it for dear life, "I don't know you-, I don't have brothers-", his voice cut off, his body trembled as he was forced against the computer, "Mikey...please, come home, we miss you, dad misses you-", He froze as I said that sentence and stood tall, but what scared me was the fact that he laughed, tears streaming down his face and all he did was laugh at what I said, before he looked at me, "Heh...now I know you're lying, my old family never cared about me...they never missed me! They left me to die! And that adult that I lived with, was always disappointed in me...", silence filled the room as he placed his weapon in his holster, however, his hand stayed behind his back, "...and my family would never look for me..."

"Besides...", reaching behind himself, he slipped on his necklace, turning back into the ninja we followed into the warehouse, showing only his baby blue eyes through the opening in his mask, "...my real family's at home, waiting for me", before we could answer, Mikey pulled his hand out from behind his back and blew a ton of dust towards us, specifically blinding dust. I squeezed my eyes shut as the pain grew unbearable, which caused my eyes to overflow like crazy and turn the world into a blurry mess, reaching into my pocket I pulled out my T-Phone, squinting at the screen I pulled up Casey's contact and called the number, listening as the ringing played out, the pain started to settle after some time, "Donnie, try and recover any information you can, we need those files to create more crystals! Now come on Raph!".

Being the first to be able to see, I followed after Mikey and jumped out the window, racing towards him, noticing that he was a few kilometers away, finally after some time Casey answered my call.

-------------------------

Casey Jones: "Leo?! What happened, did you get the crystals?!"

Me: "No! Someone stole them and I'm running after them right now, and you're not going to guess who it is!"

Casey Jones(April): "Was it one of Shredder's goons?!"

Me: "No, it was Mikey, he was able to steal the crystals, delete all the information, and blind all three of us"

Casey Jones: "Wait! He's actually in New York?!"

Me: "Yes, now I'm sending you Donnie's location, me and Raph are searching for Mikey as we speak! Now hurry!"

-------------------------

Turning my phone off, I quickened my pace after Mikey, but I grew frustrated, even though I was running at my fastest speed, I still didn't catch up with Mikey, in fact, the distance grew larger as time passed by, "Mikey, please just come home!", Mikey turned back towards us and fell in an alleyway, smirking as he fell out of my line of sight. Running near the edge, I saw no sign of him on the street, meaning he was still hiding in the alley. I smiled at the thought of how much Mikey grew, he became stronger, smarter, and quite impressive at stealth. I jumped into the alley with Raph right behind me, and landed on the concrete below, scanning the area around us I saw no sign of Mikey, he was gone. I searched everywhere, he just disappeared, scanning around the alley again and again, searching the connecting street, but he was gone.

"Raph! Any sign of Mikey?!", Raph continued to yell Mikey's name, I looked at Raph's face, it held nothing but desperation as he climbed up the fire escape, his face held so much worry as he scanned the entire area around us, he yelled louder until he stopped and landed next to me, taking a few deep breaths. "He's gone..."

*RRRIIINNNGGG* *RRRIIINNNGGG* *RRRIIINNNGGG*

My T-phone rang as I climbed to the top of the building, and pulled out my phone, staring at the screen I saw Donnie's name and answered it quickly, hoping that Mikey ran to Donnie, praying that today Mikey would finally come back home.

-------------------------

Me: "Donnie! Please tell me, Mikey's with you!"

Donatello: "No, but I have bad news..."

Me: "..."

Donatello: "Mikey was able to successfully delete all of the files, well except for one..."

Me: "..."

Donatello: "But hey now we know I was my theory was right!"

Me(Raph): "Donnie, now is not the time, we just saw are fucking brother, and you have the time to joke about theories!"

Donatello: "No Raph listen! If you remember, basically I and Casey theorized that Michaelangelo Tang and Mikey are the same people"

Me(Raph): "Okay?! So what, you already proved that it wasn't him back at the farmhouse"

Donatello: "Yes, but I found something a while ago, the kraang documented that an intruder stole one of the five prototype transformation cells last year around the time we stole the power cell! The kraang saved the security footage of the intruder, to which I found out it was the kid. That was the only crystal ever stolen since now-"

Me(Raph): "Okay, Donnie, get to the point!"

Donatello: "Raph, we just witnessed that Mikey had that crystal made into a necklace! The same necklace that Casey saw Mikey Tang wear!!! RAPH, MIKEY WAS THE INTRUDER AND HAS BEEN USING THE CELL TO HIDE FROM US!!!"

Chapter Text

POV Donnie:

"So you want to tell me why neither you nor Leo, said anything about this to me?!", I jumped as Raph shoved open the steel door, and yelled at me, slamming the door so loud, causing it to echo inside the lab, "Dude Raph, please. Tonight has been super stressful-"

"Stressful?! My night has been stressful!!! I finally saw Mikey after a full fucking year, finding out that he doesn't even remember us! You guys found out the kid was a mutant and didn't tell me! And I just found out that Mikey has been hiding from us, disguised as THAT FUCKING HUMAN!!! We've seen our brother, so many times-", I stared at Raph as he continued to yell, however, I noticed as more time passed by, the more I could hear the trembling in his voice, Raph tried to hide it multiple times, but I could still hear it, "-we've had so many chances to bring him home, why didn't we?!-"

"Because we didn't know!...", I pushed myself up from my desk and stood to my height, towering over Raph, I breathed out slowly, growing more and more annoyed by this interaction, "We didn't know, Raph...If I knew-If we knew, you know we would have done anything to bring him home, but. We. Didn't. Know...And do not fucking blame me for not telling you...", walking back to my desk I sat down and plugged in the flash drive, waiting for the file to pop up, "I've tried, multiple times to tell you...but every time I told you, you told me you were busy-"

"Then why didn't you say that it was something this important-"

"BECAUSE YOU DIDN'T LET ME", through the annoyance of the sudden disturbance that night, a tear fell down my cheek, was it from anger or was it stress from tonight's mission, for once in my life, I didn't know the answer, "You...never let me tell you about the kid...*Gasp* every time I said something about the kid, you told me you never cared, that you were too busy, and unlike you, I have been trying...day and night, trying to see who this kid really was...trying to see what he was hiding from us, trying to see what he knew about our brother, but I could never find out who or what he actually was because his mom always saw me watching no matter how hard I hid from her...she always found me", I turned and rested my head in my palms, trying to calm myself as I let out a shaking breath, tears still falling down my face, "Just leave..."

"Donnie, wait-"

"Leave, Raph..." my face dry of any tears, only showing the redness on my eyelids, puffy from minutes prior. Without saying a word, Raph left my lab, leaving with the most miserable expression his face ever held. Turning back towards my computer I stared at the file that popped up on the screen, 'No wonder it took so long to load', pages upon pages of the file loaded onto my screen, finally loading upon the title and description of the file.

Project Transformation Cell

For this project, Kraang has created a power cell with the ability to transform any non-human creature perfectly into an earthling, changing the entirety of the being's biological coding, ranging all the way from the texture and tone of the creature's integumentary system, all the way down to the creatures mutagenic or kraang-like DNA, turning the user into an earthling. When perfected the user should be able to go undetected by the beings of Earths, drawing blood, reading brain waves, even an internal exam, all will go undetected to humans, making it impossible for them to discover the user's true form.

I scrolled through the pages, it was all entries, however, for the first few pages, the kraang explained the mutants used for this project, I was confused to see that not one had their name put down, instead they had numbers. I counted each mutant, scrolling through the pages, only to find out there were thousands of mutants used for this project. Scrolling to the top of the file, I clicked on the first entry, finally after some time the entry loaded, the top showed two photos, one of a mutant while the other showed...something disturbing...

Just barely down the entry showed video footage, the paused footage showed the mutant or as the entry stated Experiment 013-618157, the mutant was strapped to an examination table in the Fowler's position. Wires were connected everywhere on the mutant frog's body, connecting from head to toe, all plugged into different machines.

"Project Transformation Cell-Test One", a kraang floated in front of the camera as he held a device, and placed a transformation cell inside the device before strapping the device onto his chest, instantly turning the mutant into a human, the mutant smiled at Kraang, repeatedly thanking them, but none of the kraang in the room replied, each one of them were watching the now human mutant, however, one was writing notes, while some others were watching the computers, the human smiled as tears fell down his face. However, the once happy human fell silent, his head slouched down as it hung loosely, and the human's once thankful cries turned into ones full of anger. The human screamed at the kraang around him, blaming them for everything they did to him, telling them that he lived a perfect life, foam started pooling out of his mouth. He tried reaching for the arm cuffs but failed to free himself, off to the side of the video, the heart monitor was going off the charts, not only that but the brain wave monitor was blaring like crazy, alerting them of the rapidly rising brain activity, blood pressure, and even heart rate.

"We are currently 10 minutes into the test, Blood Pressure 172/104, and Heart Rate 145 beats per minute, continue the test", the scientist walked off to the side and let the test continue, the rage filled human stopped yelling at the kraang, and instead begged them to stop, begging for the pain to go away, but the pain never did, he begged for the headache to dissipate, but it never did, from what I could tell by his brain waves. The human finally after some time stopped screaming, but something worse happened, he began seizing, shaking uncontrollably against the examination table, and his body banged against the table.

One of the kraang droids off to the side nodded his head and walked towards the human, ripping off the device that held the transformation cell, the human turned back into its mutant form, but the frog continued to seize, drool pooling down his chin, dripping onto the floor. None of the kraang dealt with the seizing mutant as a kraang stepped into frame, sighing annoyingly, "Experiment 013-618157 throughout the test has shown a variety in rapid mood changes, from pleased to irritation to apprehension. However, the crystal successfully transformed this mutant's integumentary and musculoskeletal system...", the kraang scientist moved the camera towards some computers and picked up a vacutainer tube with a blue top, filled to the brim with red blood, the creature plugged the blood into the computer, watching as it was quietly sucked in all the liquid. The properties of the blood popped up on the screen, I instantly saw the problem, the blood was full of frog DNA, and showed no human DNA, "However, as seen on this screen this mutant's DNA nor chromosomes changed into ones identically to a humans, this is the end of test one. Test one failed", ending with the kraang waving his tentacle, signaling to end the video.

I stared at the entry as a sharp shiver ran down my spine, I continued to read the paragraphs typed into the entry, everything growing more and more detailed, I finally read the last paragraph as I switched my gave between the paragraph and the MRI depiction of the mutant's brain bleed, releasing blood and cerebrospinal fluid around the space. I scanned over the photo finding another problem with the damage, the thalamus was paralyzed by the test, the mutant showed no emotion as his own spinal fluid pooled out from his ears dripping down his cheeks, as well as small amounts dripped out of his snout, pooling into his mouth. The mutant was documented to show no sign of pain, proving further that his thalamus was damaged. I scrolled to the bottom of the entry only to find a single sentence.

Experiment 013-618157. Death Date and Time: September 11, 1971. 12:23:30:01. Cause of Death: Euthinized by Kraang Droid. Reason for Death: After Test One, Experiment 013-618157 became unresponsive and therefore useless for further testing. This concludes Test One of Project Transformation Cell.

I covered my mouth as I felt bile climb my throat, threatening to burst out from my mouth, I left that entry and moved on to the next entry, continuing my research.

-------------------------

~Eight Days Later~

For over a week, none of my machines were touched once, I didn't work on the retro mutagen and didn't once look away from my computer, I continued to read through the thousands of entries, each one I read ranged from the kraang finally progressing to creating a more stable cell, to entries of just torture, in some cases the mutant would die during the test only for Kraang to revive the mutant, then continuing the test, continuing to torture the creature until the creature finally fainted instead of dying in the end, and if they were incapable over defibrillating the dead mutant, the Kraang, documented the time of death at the bottom of the entry, ending that test right after.

Slouching against the table, I stared tiredly at the screen, listening to the silence that was once filled with screams of agony and anger. I sat there lazy and leaned back into my chair, staring at the ceiling above me, "Donnie?! Are you still reading that file?!", I turned my face off to the side and stared as April walked into my lab, worry covering her face, walking over by my side, switching her gaze between me and the screen. The next video played out loud as I moved on to the next entry, I stared at April with no emotion on my face, none of what she said registered with me, all I was listening to was the lead scientist, and turned back towards the screen, watching as the video started off with the lead kraang scientist's usual introduction.

"*Sigh* Project Transformation Cell-Test Four Hundred Twenty", using the same device, a kraang droid placed it in the same position as the rest of the mutants, strapping the mutant onto the examination table.

For the past thirty-five videos the kraang have been using the same mutant, in theses past entries, the kraang documented that they noticed that this mutant showed the most promising results, showing that the DNA inside the mutant perfectly became identical to a human's biological genetics, however, the side effects still were prominent, each time having an effect on the mutant, yet the effects seemed to lessen, the mutant only experiences the body aches, headaches, nausea, syncope, and seizures in rare cases. However, they never could fix the worst adverse effect of the cell, absolute uncontrollable anger, with the video ending with the Kraang ripping off the device, and traquilizing the mutant until finally it passed out, smoke visibly rising from the mutant's bodily.

I could feel April switch her gaze to the screen that silenced in front of us and me, "Have you been watching this since the mission...", I sat in silence, I didn't want to answer, all I did was stroll past the video and began reading the paragraphs, April clearly didn't like that as she slammed my computer shut, and pulled it out of my reach. "April, give that back. I need to work on a way to duplicate the crystal once I get them, I need to see how the kraang successfully created those gems, maybe just maybe I can find an alternate solution to copy the transformation cell-"

"Donnie! You have been watching these videos nonstop for the past Week!! You need a break Donnie, watching something this-this-...uhhh graphic! Watching something like this is not healthy, when was the last time you slept-"

"I HAVEN'T OKAY!!!...", I stood to my full height and walked away from April, pacing back and forth, trying to keep myself from passing out during the conversation. "I haven't slept since three days ago...", tears fell down my face as I walked toward April, who in turn walked away from me, I began sobbing as the stress from the sleepless days began hitting me like a bus, the reality of what Mikey possibly went through as he continued to wear that crystal for the pass year, a whole year his brother wore something so dangerous, so...harmful, and none of us knew, "I have been trying to find a way to duplicate those stupid gems, to help all of my family including myself, to live a normal life, to live a normal life on the surface without being treated like a monster, I wanted to see if I could recreate something similar to the transformation cell ever since I found out about its existence..."

I stood there in silence as I stared at April, my eyes grew puffy as my tear ducts became dry, but nothing came out, not a single tear, "When I watched as my only younger brother, took the one thing that could help every one of us, I've been thinking of so many ways to persuade Mikey come home...I could care less about those cells as long as I could get him back...", I stared at April, no emotion was present on my face as I stared at her, a question popped into my head as I continued to stare at her, "Did you know...", her once concerned expression turned to one of pure shock and fear, coughing into her hand, she tried composing herself, failing entirely, "Know what-"

"You know what I'm talking about April...did you know that Mikey and that kid were the same...did you know"

"Of course, I didn't know that-"

"Don't give me that April, please, you've been hanging out with that kid for a while-"

"Is it wrong to think I hung out with him, because he was a nice kid, that I was actually happy to hang out with some guy that treated me like an actual human being!!! Ever since I met that kid, he never treated me like I was made of fucking glass!!! Yes, he had a hard time understanding manners but he didn't treat me like I was weak-"

"But did you know!!!"

"YES!!!", her once soft words spoke loudly as she looked angrily into my eyes, "I've known for months!!! I've known for almost half a fucking year, Donnie-"

"Then why didn't you tell us?! You know we've been looking for our brother for over a year!!!-"

"BECAUSE HE TOLD ME NOT TO TELL YOU!!! The first day I found out that he was hiding as a human, I wanted to so badly tell you guys, but when I told him, he begged me, he cried as he begged me not to tell anyone, I've told him that you guys changed, but he never wanted to come home, he told me that he was living his biggest dream, he was happy that he was finally living a normal, he goes to school has good grades, he lives with a family with sisters that look up to him life, living with a family that love, they treated him with so much respect...he finally looked happy...", those words hurt so much, hearing the fact that my own younger brother was happy with another family than his own hurt, what was so special about that family, "Alright, fine but why did you hang out with him more than us, you skipped out on mission just to hang out with him, why-"

"Donnie-", I hated the tone she used to say my name, it hurt, her voice was filled with so much pit, it was disgusting, "Oh, please don't Donnie me, just tell me", when I said those words, she grew angry as something she just realized flashed across her face, "He treats me with so much more respect within a day than any of you guys have given me the entire time you've known me. Is it wrong to want to hang out with someone that doesn't treat you like an object-like you're their property, Donnie...", I was shocked as she said those words, not once before had she complained about what I called her, why is it only coming up now. She took a deep breath as she turned towards the door, signaling she was done with the conversation, however, I wasn't, "Wait April-"

"No, Donnie, I'm done with everything, I hate how you guys treat me, just...let Splinter know I'm done with training, I'm going to train somewhere else...and I'll come by sometimes and go on missions, but I can't anymore, I thought you guys changed...heh guess I was wrong", I stood there frozen, 'No please don't leave we've changed', I ran towards her and tried to grab her arm, "Wait, no April! I'm sorry, we have, please, you don't need to leave!", April said nothing as she left the lab, closing the door and leaving me there by myself, as the once empty tear duct began to flow once more, drop after drop staining the floor.

Twenty minutes passed by as I continued to stare at the floor below me until I felt someone grab my shoulders, I turned around and noticed brothers were standing in front of me, even Casey, "I'm sorry, I didn't mean-"

"It's alright, Donnie. This team is built on trust and if she sees that she did nothing wrong, and lied to us, then maybe she wasn't made for the team, now come on, let's get you out of this stuffy place", I nodded,  and pushed myself up to my feet, but froze and looked towards Casey, "Casey-", he looked towards me as I brushed my knees off, " I think it's finally time to bring Mikey home...", with no words discuss Casey understood what I meant and nodded his head, leading us out of the cold, cramped laboratory.

Chapter Text

POV Mikey:

I woke up four hours ago and for the last three hours, I have been staring at the case in my hands, and ever since the last week's mission it has been hiding underneath my bed, hidden towards the farthest corner. And here I was...staring at the case, trying to think of a better place for the box to be hidden, 'Maybe I can hide them in my dresser, no that's too obvious...', I continued to scan the room until my eyes landed on a painting, the same one I painted months ago, a soft art piece of the farmhouse as the sunset behind the house, '...perfect'.

Leaving the case behind, I walked over to the painting that was hung carefully on the wall and picked the painting off the wall, carrying the art piece to the bed, I set it down carefully on the bed with the back facing up. I grabbed the case and popped it open, unlike the one I wore before these ones glowed a bright purple, changing from purple to pink. "I should probably cover these...", I walked towards the bathroom just outside my room, pushed open the door, walked towards the toilet, and grabbed the toilet paper. I rolled about twenty squares around my hand, and walked back to my room, shutting the bathroom door behind me.

"ねえ、フン、お昼何が食べたい?!"

(Hey, hun, what do you want for lunch?!)

The sound of dishes clinking together sounded in the distance, "Can we have pizza?!", the sound of pizza sounded so delicious, I missed it, the smell, the taste...even the memories, the memories of my old family and I fighting over the last slice. "もちろん！ピザを 2 枚ほどいただけますか?"

(Sure! Can you pick some up, maybe two pizzas?)

"Yeah, let me just finish up some homework, then I'll head out", closing the door behind me, I walked over to the crystal and ripped the same amount of squares for each crystal, seven squares each. I wrapped each crystal carefully, yet tightly with toilet paper, and taped them shut, taping them to the back of the canvas, each one in a different corner, leaving one empty. Picking up the canvas, I hung it back on the wall, fixing the painting, making it didn't look suspicious, I stepped away from the painting and stared at the entire wall, "Perfect...no one will know".

Walking towards my door, I grabbed my necklace and placed it around my neck, watching the flash lighten up the hallway. "Hey Mom, I'm heading out, what kind of pizza do you want?", walking next to her, she walked over to her purse and pulled out a fifty-dollar bill, handing it to me.

"コンビネーションピザとチーズピザをもらえますか?"

(Can you get a combination pizza and a cheese pizza?)

Grabbing the dollar from her, I shoved the bill into my wallet and turned towards the door, "Alright Cheese and Combo, okay! I should be home in thirty-, forty minutes", grabbing my pouch, I shoved my wallet into the bag. "ご安全に、ホン!"

(Be safe, hon!)

Pushing the door open, I walked down the stairs and walked through the dojo, skipping through the room, and listening to the instructors teach the students. It was nice, to see the once-destroyed room full of people was nice, walking towards the side door, I walked out into the alley, closing the door behind me, making sure it was locked tight. Pulling my hoodie over my head, I walked towards my favorite pizza place, Antonio's Pizza~, my mouth watered at the thought of eating pizza, then it hit me, 'Wait when was the last time I actually had pizza...', I started thinking back, trying to remember when I actually ate pizza, and then it hit me, 'I haven't eaten pizza since I lived on the streets...'.

Pulling out my phone, I searched for the direction of the pizza place, and followed the path, scrolling through my phone and starting up some music as I connected my earbuds, listening to the song that showed at the beginning of the playlist.

~Na Na Na by Lay Bankz~

Sunshine on the beach with my back out

In a two-piece, make a n***а go (wow, wow)

Start blickin', make the city go black out

Walk with a limp hip hurt like (ow, ow)

Shoving my phone into my pocket, I stopped at the light as I waited inside the crowd, and tapped my foot to the beat of the song, bouncing on the bottom of my feet as I waited, finally after some time the crosswalk light signaled, I began walking across the street. Seeing Antonio's across the street, I pressed the next button repeatedly, and listened to the button voice out over and over, "Wait. Wait. Wait. Wait. Wait. Wait. Wait for the light to turn to cross the street", I chuckled at the angry button, and waited at the light, pulling out my phone, I looked at the time, '1:40, so I should be home around 2:15!', not long after the light changed, walking across, I pushed open the door, strolling straight to the counter, "Welcome to Antonio's Pizza! What can I get for you today?", the girl at the counter greeted me as she stood behind the counter, waiting for me to order.

"Ummm, can I get a combination pizza and a cheese pizza?"

"You sure can! Anything else?", I shook my head before responding, "No thank you ma'am, but can I have some ranch on the side", I wiped my mouth as the thought of eating pizza kept appearing in my head, drooling at the thought of the delicacy. "Alright! That's going to be $41.67!", I nodded as I reached into my pocket, pulled out the needed cash, and handed it to the nice lady as she opened the drawer, handing me the remaining money. "The pizza should be readying in twenty-five minutes", giving her my name as she typed the name in. She turned around as I thanked her, and sat at one of the booths, playing with my favorite game, but I stopped...I looked away from my screen and looked around the inside of the store, something felt off, it felt wrong, someone was watching me again. I pulled up my chat between Mom and me,  sending her a text.

----------------------------

Me: Mom I think someone watching me again

Mom😊: Alright, as soon as you get the pizza come straight home

Mom😊: Walk through the front door

Me: Okay, they said the pizza should be done in twenty-five minutes

Me: I should get home at 2:15

Mom😊: Okay, if you aren't I'll call you

Me: Okay👍

----------------------------

Twenty minutes passed by after the last text, and I could still feel someone's eyes watching me, I looked out the window and could see no one staring, I looked around the pizza shop, and met no one's eyes, yet I could still feel them, and as time passed by it went from one person watching, but now there was two. "Mikey!", before I shoved my phone into my pocket, I sent a text to Mom, letting her know the pizzas were ready. Walking up to the counter, I thanked her as I pulled my hood over my head and left the shop, walking at a quick pace, I stayed towards the middle of the crowd.

I tried to walk as fast as I could, but as the crowd thickened my pace slowed down, I watched the street as each vehicle passed by, growing more nervous as each one drove near me, only to relax as they passed by, 'The kraang have to be watching, they know I stole the crystals', my breathing grew heavy, looking up from the boxes, I saw the dojo just across the street.

My pace stayed the same speed as I walked down the sidewalk, but something happened before I knew what was happening, something pulled me into the alley, I was pulled deeper into the alley, as someone covered my mouth, I called towards the people in the streets, but no one looked in my direction, that was something I used to love about New York...people minded their business, but now...I wish they didn't. I tried to pull myself free from their grip but adrenaline filled my veins, I moved frantically, trying to see who was holding me, only for them to shove a rag over my nose and mouth, a foul smell filled my lungs, and I continued to struggle against the hold. A rush of tiredness flooded through my system as I slumped against the captor, "Help...", my eyes slowly shut as their hand started to lower down away from my mouth, "Momma...help", darkness overflowed my mind as I fell further into the captors hold until I was fully unconscious.

----------------------------

"What the heck did you use on him?!", I sat there strapped against a wooden chair, my legs were tied to the legs of the chair, while my arms were tied behind my back, and my head was slumped down, the tip of my chin barely touching my chest, as the kidnappers yelled around me, my eyes were sealed shut, even if I wanted to open them I couldn't. My body sat there paralyzed against the chair, yet I could hear their voices, and all I knew was that one of the voices...was Casey's voice.

"I used the stuff Donnie gave me!-"

"And I told you just a small amount, by how long he's been passed out, seems like you used too much!", the other voices sounded so familiar, but I couldn't place where I heard them from. "Boys! What is going on here...", a new voice spoke out, silencing everyone in the room, 'I need to leave, this guy seems dangerous...', I began trying to move my fingers, only for them to move an inch, but I continued to move them, "Who's the boy...", the stranger's footsteps grew louder, he sounded barefoot as his feet hit the floor, until he stopped, "Master Splinter-", the voice stopped, silence filling the room once more, he was looking at me, everyone in the room was looking at me.

"I know you're listening...", my heart stopped at the sound of those words, 'how...how did he', after some time, I peeled my eyes open as my head continued to look at the floor, slowly I looked up at the stranger only to see some weird rat, wearing a robe with a cane in his hand, holding himself up. I glared at each person in the room, however, I glared harder at Casey, how could he do this, "Casey...", my glare never wavered once as I stared at him, my words dripping with so much hate, "You did this!-"

"Silence-"

"Or what, huh? You gonna tie me up, and what?!", I turned towards the turtle on the other side of the rat and glared at them, "What do you want from me, I need to be home by 2:15!", each one stared at me with some many different emotions, however, none of them answered my question, finally the rat spoke, "Leonardo, what is this human doing here?", the blue-masked turtle walked talks the tall rat as the purple walked behind me, standing there silently, "Sensei, it's...it's Mikey", I glared at the blue turtle, as the rat's once hard expression changed to one of confusion as he stared at me. Slowly I felt something on my neck moving, looking down, in one swift move, the purple-masked turtle pulled off my necklace, and the familiar flash, lightened up the room, revealing my mutant form, "NO!!! GIVE ME THAT BACK IT'S MINE!!!", thrashing around in the chair, I tried ripping my arms free but I failed, "YOU HAVE NO RIGHT TAKING THAT FROM ME!!! GIVE! IT! BACK!!!", drool pooled out up my mouth as I glared at the purple turtle, breathing heavily as I tried ripping my arms free, only to fail instead.

"Michaelangelo...my son...", the rat reached for me, trying to grab my face, but I moved away from the hand, glaring at Casey, "Let me go now! I want to go home!-"

"My son you are home-", I bit at the hand that reached towards me, glaring at the rat as tears fell down my cheek, "Stop calling me that, I don't you who you are", I breathed out heavily, as I slumped over, my tears falling towards the ground, staining the concrete, "I don't know who any of you are, I just want to go home...please...I want to see, Momma", silence filled the concrete room, only being broken by the sounds of my cries.

*RRRIIINNNGGG* *RRRIIINNNGGG* *RRRIIINNNGGG*

I lifted my head, as I looked toward my hoodie pocket, only to see my phone in the purple turtle's hand, my mom's contact lighting up the screen, with a deep sigh the rat turned towards the turtle and grabbed the phone, lifting it towards me as he answered it.

----------------------------

Mom😊: "MIKEY, 大丈夫ですか？！どこにいるの！！！ 4時間経ちました!!!"

(ARE YOU OKAY?! WHERE ARE YOU!!! IT'S BEEN FOUR HOURS!!!)

Me: "ごめんなさい、私はケイシーと一緒です、ママ..."

(Sorry, I'm with Casey, Momma)

Mom😊: "..."

Me: "..."

Mom😊: "大丈夫ですか、今は..."

(Are you safe, right now...)

Me: "...*sniff*"

Mom😊: "Well, tell Casey, that you need to come home, right now, okay?"

Me: "Okay, I will...

Mom😊: "Where's Casey, is he near you?"

Me: "Yeah...Casey, my mom wants to talk to you

Me(Casey): "Yes, ma'am?"

Mom😊: "I'm sorry Casey, but Mikey has training today, and he can't miss this one, maybe another day. I'm on my way to pick him up, see you soon~"

----------------------------

The rat hung up on the call, passing the phone back to the purple turtle, "Michaelangelo, when did you're Japanese, become so clean...", I faced up towards the rat, shock covering my face, "what...", though tears stopped pouring down my cheeks, sweat did, "それで、あなたの新しいお母さんは誰ですか?"

(So, who's your new mother?)

My eyes stared at the tall rat as his face softened just a bit, yet his guard was still visible, I looked at each turtle and then back at the rat in front of me, "You...you know-"

"That dialect, I taught all of you, however, you always struggled to learn it-", I shook my head and looked at the ground, "Stop! Shut up! I never learned Japanese before I was adopted by my Mom!", the rat walked off to the side and grabbed a chair from a separate room, placing the seat right in front of me, "My son...", I growled at the way the rat called me his son, I felt so uncomfortable as he kept calling me that, "...I know that...we haven't been...the best family-", I shut the rest of the conversation out, I didn't want to hear this dude anymore, I just wanted to go home, I wanted to see my sisters, I wanted to see my mom.

"Michaelangelo...please listen to me, I know you don't remember, but I'm your fathe-"

"NO!!!", I glared at the rat in front of me, giving the rodent a full display of my sharp teeth, "You are not my father! I don't have a father!", I continued to glare at him, but he just stared down at me, "I only have...a mother..."

"Then tell me what your Mother's name is, since she's on the way, I should know her name before she arrives...", my gaze softened as he smiled at me, but I shook my head, "Why should I tell the people that kidnapped me-"

"Sensei, it's your wife...Tang Shen-"

"SHUT UP!", I glared at the red-masked turtle, he showed no expression as he stared at me, "He also has two 'sisters'", he raised his hands and signaled quotation marks the word sisters. "SHUT UP! And they are my sisters, they're the only siblings I've ever had-"

"WE'RE YOUR SIBLINGS!!!", I switched my gave toward the purple turtle, tears fell down his cheeks as he clutched the necklace string, tighter inside his hands, "We are...your brothers, Mikey... this is your family...", he signaled towards the rest of the turtles as well as the rat that sat in front of me, I stared at the ground, then lifted my face to look at the person in front of me. I was shocked for the first time since I actually met the rat, his face actually showed real emotion, it was...sad, tears fell down his cheeks, soaking his fur, "What...", the rat's voice trembled as he pushed himself up and walked somewhere else, "I'm sorry sons, I...need some time to think about this...", he finished disappearing, leaving me alone with the turtles and Casey.

"Did none of you tell Splinter about her?!", Casey whispered loudly, he turned towards the turtles, "I thought Leo did-"

*METAL PIPES HITTING THE GROUND*

"What was that...", across the room was a small tunnel, the sound echoed across the room, "Donnie, Casey, you two stay here, Raph and I will check on the sound", pulling out their weapons, the two turtles walked across the room and disappeared into the dark tunnel, I continued to stare at the tunnel, until the sound of something hitting the floor sounded next to me, "Guys!-", the dark figure ran towards Casey, and covered his mouth, pressing their finger into the side of his neck, causing him to collapse as well, "Mikey!", I knew that voice, it was mom, I smiled as she ran behind me, and began cutting the rope. And with one last slice, the final rope fell to the ground, freeing me from the wooden chair, "来て！さあ行こう！", she whispered loudly.

(Come on! Let's go!)

Pushing myself off the chair, I ran towards the purple turtle and ripped my crystal and phone out from his grip, following her close behind, we ran out of the room, "NO! GUYS!", Mom grabbed my hand and pulled me down the tunnel even faster, I continued to look behind us, that was until my mom slowed down, stopping completely. I looked back in front of us, happy to see my old friend, Leatherhead, I ran in front of my mom and hugged Leatherhead, looking up at him, "Mikey...", his voice trembled as he hugged me even tighter, knocking the wind out of me.

"Leatherhead, I need you to do something", his sad expression turned to one of full seriousness, and nodded his head, "I need you to stop the people following us, some turtles are chasing us"

"You mean, your brothers?", Leatherhead tilted his head confused by my words, "No-well-, can you just make sure they don't catch us, I promise to explain everything once I see you again, just please", I begged him as I heard the footsteps growing louder.

----------------------------

POV Tang Shen:

"Alright, I trust you...", the alligator spoke as he ran behind us and disappeared around the corner, terror didn't once disappear once since the alligator stood in front of us, I began to run and sprinted into a separate tunnel, climbing up the ladder, "Wait, Mom how did you find me", I breathed heavily as I shoved the manhole cover out of the way, "I have been watching your location on my phone ever since the eyes started watching us", climbing out and crawled to the side, waiting as my son climbed out after me, shoving the manhole cover back into place. I turned towards my van that sat on the edge of the alley, "Come on, Mikey the van's right there-", I turned back, making sure he was still with me, "MOmmmmmmmm!!!", frozen in place I stared at a tiger, it's paw was placed roughly over Mikey's mouth, muffling his screams, "MIKEY!", the creature pulled out a gun with the other and pointed the barrel towards my son's head, "If you follow, your son is as good as dead", the tiger press a button, and flew away, chucking Mikey's phone towards the ground, disappearing from my sight.

I called for Mikey, tears falling down my chin as I began climbing the fire escape, but once I got to the top of the building, he was gone, the air was silent, and the sky was clear. Standing on top of the roof, I fell to my knees, "NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!", my scream echoed across the sky, I cried knowing I failed my role as his mother, and failed as his protector.

Chapter Text

POV Mikey:

"MMMMMMMM!!!", I screamed as loud as possible, tears, falling into the air as someone kidnapped me, taking me right in front of my mom without a care in the world. Looking back the mutant, the tiger stared ahead, pushing myself away from them, I continued to call out to anyone I could see on the street, but no one looked towards us, in fact, everyone who saw us just ran away, I looked back scanning the ground for any sign of mom, but there was nothing, I saw no van driving after us. "Turtle, where are the crystals?", I froze as the tiger finally spoke, turning my gaze up to him, I stopped and saw him staring back, glaring emotionlessly at me, instantly I looked away. "Turtle...", he growled as the gripped over my mouth tightened, causing my cheeks to burn ashis nails dug deeper into my skin, I began pushing him away, trying my best to free myself but failed in the end, smashed in the same spot as he carried me away.

"Fine...don't speak...I'll let the Shedder deal with you", sweat dripped down my forehead at the sound of that name, switching my gaze back toward him, 'No...no.no.No.NO.NO NO NO NO NO NONONONONO!!!' frantically I pushed against the tiger, using my free feet and kicked him as hard as I could, but it wasn't working, he didn't flinch at the pain, or grunt, he was just solid. The wind slowed down as the buildings grew taller, 'Wait...what the...', I turned back towards the front and there it was, Shedder's home base, "NMMMMMM!!!", tears flowed down my face, I tried to get away, "Sit still child!", I shook my head, freeing my mouth from his grip as he landed on the ground, and pushed open the door, slamming it loudly behind us. "Let me go! Who even are you?! Mom! *Sob* MOM!-"

"SHUT IT!", my screams were silenced instantly at the sound of the voice, slowly I turned away from the tiger and looked towards the tall throne, trembling aggressively. There next to him, stood Buzz Kill, Rahzar, Fishface, and some random girl, her arms crossed as she looked down at me, and laughed at me. "Good work Tiger Claw, where are those stupid crystals", Tiger Claw continued to hold my arms behind my back as he walked closer to the Shredder, I whined, my arms hurting from the grip, but before I could rip my arms away, Tiger Claw threw me towards the ground, causing me to scrape my knees, and wince in pain. "This turtle wouldn't speak-"

"That's cause your damn hand was over my mout-", I flinched as the sound of the tiger's weapon powering up sounded behind me, turning around I stared at the Tiger, frozen in fear, the mutant stood there aiming a gun right at me, pressing the barrel against tmy forehead. "Even if my mouth wasn't covered over my mouth, why would I tell you!", I turned back towards Shredder, glaring at him as I continued to kneel on the ground, wincing from the dull pain that stayed only in my knees. "Take him to the cell, and make him talk", Tiger Claw grabbed my arm, forcing me to stand up, only for my necklace to fall out of my pocket, right onto the floor. My eyes widened as the crystals rolled, stopping just a foot away from me, I pulled myself away from the tiger and fell on top of the crystal, begging them not to take the one thing that made my life normal.

"Move freak!", Rahzar pushed and kicked me in the gut, but I stayed there firm, "God Dam-, just move!", in one fast kick, he moved me off of the crystal, kicking me over a yard away. "No!", Rahzar, reached for the gem, the dark room filled in a flash of pink and purple as Rahzar turned back into a human, turning him back into...Chris Bradford. He looked at himself and began laughing, laughing so hard that it was the only thing that filled the room, no sounds of metal, no sounds of water, just laughing.

Fishface ran towards Chris and ripped the necklace out of his hand, turning him back to Rahzar and himself into Xever, "Hey!", The two began fighting over the necklace, each one turning human while the other turned back into a mutant, switching back and forth, that was until, "Chris...Xever...", and in an instant, they stopped, neither touch the gem as it lied there motionless on the ground, so close that I could almost touch it, Shredder turned his gaze back to Tiger Claw, showing the same stern expression, " Tiger Claw, bring me the gem...", the tiger walked over me and grabbed the stick of the necklace off the ground, and made his way over to Shrdder, kneeling as he stood a foot away, handing him my necklace, "If that's what you want you can have it! Please just let me go-"

"Tiger Claw take him to the cell, those creatures should be here by tomorrow. And you two...", Rahzar and Fishface looked up at Shredder, waiting for his orders, "Make this...turtle feel at home", fear filled my gut as he spoke those words, I knew what he meant, "No, please!", the Tiger dragged me by my shell, causing my feet to dragged against the floor, tearing the skin off my feet.

-----------------------

"Now don't get used to that Mikey~", Rahzar teased as he slammed the door shut, both Fishface and he laughed and walked away leaving me alone in the cold concrete cell. Using my arm, I wiped the tears away from my cheek and used my other arm to wipe away the blood that dripped down my chin. I shoved myself far into the corner, and faced the wall, trying to find any warmth as I hugged myself, 'Help me...mom...please...Mom, please save me-'

"Hey", I flinched at the sound of a feminine voice behind me and continued to look at the corner, "Are you the orange turtle everyone talks about...", I knew what she said wasn't a question it was a fact she was pointing out, so I ignored her, "God, you're more pathetic than I thought you were...", silence filled the room as I leaned my head against the wall, "Damn, Leo's way more fun than you-"

"Who's Leo...", my voice sounded flat as I spoke those words, finally I turned towards her, my face dry of tears, yet covered in blood, smeared across my chin, she looked confused, "Leonardo Hamato, your brother...who's also related to Donatello Hamato and Raphael Hamato-"

"My family name is not Hamato, it's Tang, my name is Tang Michaelangelo, and I don't have any brothers, I am for sure not related to those assholes, I'll tell you that...", I glared at her as I twisted my body around, now facing her fully, "The family I had in my youth, whether that's them, or not, I disowned them over a year ago...that's not my family", her face showed so much emotion, she was confused, "Tang?", she laughed after saying my family name, I glared as her laughing calmed down, "What a stupid name-"

"It's my mother's name, at least my parent isn't a psychopathic warlord, determined to kill anyone that gets in his way", I mocked the last part and turned around, laying on my side with my shell facing her, letting her know I was done with the conversation. I listened as the girl said nothing, she just stood that, until finally she walked away, leaving me all alone in the cell. I pushed myself up as I stared at the wall, counting each of the chipped bricks, but counting didn't help, something burned in the back of my throat as I stared at my hands, 'Why...', I broke into sobs as the tears begin to drip down my cheeks, 'I just wanted to live a normal life...', my cries were quiet as I rubbed my arms against my face, trying to dry my face only for my eyes to continue leaking, 'why did I have to be born a mutant...'

"Why did I have to be born a Hamato...", I whispered aloud, and pulled my knees close to my chest, just above me a light pooled into the room, giving the cell a soft glow. I stared out the window as I leaned onto my arms against the floor, counting each star I could see, well what I could see considering all the smog. 'I wonder if mom will ever find me...maybe April will find me...', looking down at the wall in front of me, I dragged my finger across the grooves, tracing back and forth across the details, "So what's your mom like...', The girl came back holding what looked like to be a bowl with rice filled halfway.

I glared at her, but I wanted to get my mind off the situation, so I told her, "She's kind...super protective and loving, heh she would do anything to keep her kids safe...", the girl slid the bowl just barely past the cell door, and knelt down, "She was also a great cook, she made the best homemade meals, all of them originating from her home country...", picking up the bowl I knelt in front of her, grimacing at the cold food, however, I didn't complain, how could I...I was a prisoner. "Do you fight like those turtles?", I grew uncomfortable as she brought the subject of the turtle back into the conversation, "Honestly, I've never seen them fight...but I used to be a ninja, I fight with nunchucks and a pair of kama...I was supposed to learn a new weapon today...", I didn't look towards her as I continue to eat, "What do you mean used to be a ninja...", bits of rice were stuck to my lip as I looked up at her, "I used to fight crime, but as time past by, it felt useless, my old team and I fought to protect this city, but each time someone saw us they only saw us as monsters...so I thought why should I fight for something that would cut me open and kill the second they see me...", I finished the rice and pushed the bowl through the bottom of the door.

Placing my hands on my knees, I looked back down at the ground, "It felt useless, plus my old team called me weak and stupid, so I decided that I was going to quit the team and family...I ran away...", I stared at the ground as drops of something wet hit the ground, but when I looked up there was no leak, I sighed quietly knowing where they were coming from. "With my Mom, I got to live the life I dreamed about when I was really young, dreaming about going to school, I knew it was an impossible dream but because of that crystal and her, I got to live that dream, I even got to walk out in public during the day", I enunciated that last part, my smile was small but it was genuine, tears fell down my cheeks, staining the floor that sat at my knees.

I turned back towards the girl, and pulled my knees towards my chest, "Hey...why did you come here...", I wiped my tears and looked up at her, my face blank of emotion aside from my puffy eyes, she seemed shocked for a second before going back into her carefree personality, and before she could say a word I spoke, "And if you're going to say to bring me food, you would have just dropped it off then left...", her mouth shut as she stared at me, "so why are you here...", she didn't reply as she pushed herself up and dusted off her knees, "Who knows, I just find it very interesting that unlike the other turtles you seem to not give a single shit about this city...", I pushed myself up to my feet, watching as she bent over and picked up the bowl, "Like I told you I don't protect something that would kill me and hurt me the second I'm weak...", she laughed and turned around, "Forget what I said earlier...you are interesting...probably more interesting than Leo", she whispered the last part, but I could hear her, 'who is this guy she keeps talking about?', she continued to walk away...then stopped, and chuckled, "Hey..the names Karai and if you ever see her again, say hi to Mom for me", with that she disappeared, I was confused by those words, 'Mom? Did she mean to say 'your mom'', I stared at the ground confused but decided that I didn't want to think about it any longer, and laid down in the farthest corner, shutting my eyes as I tried to let sleep overcome my body.

-----------------------

~Fifteen Hours Later~

'I couldn't sleep...", the bags under my eyes darkened as the night grew and the hours passed by, I sat silently in the middle of the cell, listening to any sound that didn't tear into my sanity, "Where is the one known as the orange turtle", I growled out as the robotic voice spoke, "In here", I looked up from the floor and glared at the Tiger just outside the cage, watching as he walked inside and yanked me up into the standing position, I winced in pain, noticing that he grabbed where my bruises darkened. A human disguised Kraang walked into the cell, and positioned himself beside me, reaching somewhere behind me, "Hey! Let me go!- Ack!", the kraang droid positioned something on the back of my neck, perfectly set on top of my spine, as the device wrapped itself around my neck, making the fit snuggly, however, it fit in an uncomfortable way. Small yet thick dull needles stabbed into my skin and pulled at my flesh, I began trembling and fell to the ground. The pain was uncomfortable as I felt it rush through my neck, causing to to instantly go numb, yet, causing the worse headache I've experienced in over a year, I curled up on the floor as my mouth hung open and grabbed my throat, drool pooling onto the floor, I tried to scream but nothing came out, my words were silenced, my screams were silenced, and the only noise that came out was my own breathing.

'It hurts...oh my god, it hurts', my eyes stung as nothing flowed out of them, dried up from the night before, I touched the device and searched for something to grab onto, trying to pull it off, "Don't even try to do the action known as pulling the collar off...", I glared up at the droid, it reached around his waist, and pulled out what looked almost like a pair of futuristic cuffs, 'if it weren't for the moment, I would totally geek over those', Tiger Claw pulled my arms behind my back, and placed the cuffs on, not caring about how tight it was placed. Pulling me off the ground up from the ground, Tiger Claw led me out of the cage and pulled me past the empty cells, then the rooms, however, we didn't pass the throne room. Tiger Claw pushed open the door, leading me to a black van, the van doors flew open, "Come on, before any of the beings known as humans see us", Tiger Claw without a second thought chucked me into the back of the van. I opened my mouth at the droids, trying to scream, and just like before nothing came out.

"Stop trying to do the action known as screaming...", the droid that sat in the back of the van, stared at me, "The device placed on the area known as the nape of the neck, was made to doing the paralyzing of the user's Larynx or voice box, making it impossible for the voice box to be used", reaching into its droid suit, it pulled out a small remote, and mumbled into the device, causing the collar to let out a high pitch beep, its grip tightening just barely, "And if you try doing the escaping...", I closed my eyes as the droid pressed a button, waiting for something, anything to happen but nothing happen-

'AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!', a sharp shock rushed through my neck, radiating inside my head, causing what felt like the worst headache I ever experienced, even worse than the one seconds ago, though my scream never came out my throat,  I could almost hear it. The shock flooded throughout my head and neck, and just as the shock started just as quickly, it ended just the same, leaving me trembling as drool pooled out of my mouth, and tears fell down my cheeks. I breathed out heavily and pushed myself up against the side of the van, huffing out as my eyes stared at the ground, my eyes widened feeling a sting. My labored breathing quickened as I stared at the ground, my head grew dizzy the longer I stared at the ground as my eyes fluttered shut, and fell into darkness, groaning as my body slammed against the ground, finally falling fully into unconsciousness.

-----------------------

"WAKE UP!-", A strong rushed of pain flowed through my neck, however, this one felt...not as strong as the last. The electric shock stopped, and I pushed myself up, coughing as the pain radiated throughout my throat, trying to catch my breath, "Let's go Turtle...", one of the droids pushed me out of the van, tripping out, I fell onto my knees, scrapping them raw, "Let's go", The droids cold metallic fingers, pulled me up to my feet and dragged me into the building, entering through the back. My head slouched over as I stared at the ground, wincing in pain from the metal hand pinching my skin, tried tugging my arm away, in a way I tried to tell them I could walk on my own, only for them to show me a remote, stopping me instantly, 'it's alright...Mom and April are going to come...they're coming to save me', I quietly begged in hopes that either one would save me, the droid lifted his hand, and entered a code into the panel, opening the door a second later.

"Move forward", the droids shoved me into the elevator, and followed me into the cramped space, cramming all of us in, slowly the elevator lifted, and even though I was the only creature that breathed the air, it felt like I was suffocating, my breathing quickened as I stared at the ground, tears began to pool out my eye.

*Beep*

The soft signal sounded, barely audible for anyone further than a foot away, but it was loud enough for me to hear, and just like that my rapid breathing stopped, even the tears, I held my breath as the droid in front of me, held the remote in front of my face, "Good...you're a quick learner", I was frozen, I stared at the ground. Even though I quieted myself, the tears continued to flow down my face, finally after some time the doors opened, the droids dragged me, pressing their metal fingers deeper into my bruised arms, I looked out the windows that lined the walls, windows you come never see from the outside, I looked down at the ground, but I didn't recognize anyone, I didn't see Mom, April, I didn't even see those turtles, 'Where are you, Mom...', silently I kept begging, hoping that someone would hear me, but who would, who would hear me...

who would even look for me...

'Why could I just live a normal life...'

THE END

Thank you for being with me through the entire story and being awesome readers throughout the development and process of the story, I hope everyone was left on the edge of their seats throughout the story, thank you again, and have an awesome day...

!!!SIKE!!!

The story aint over yet!

However, the book, Orange Amnesiac, has come to a terrible end, but don't fret, there is going to be...a sequel to the story, and will be posted next week, but just so you have the new book saved I will post a the book and the disclaimer later on today, mostly around 2pm Pacific Time, the disclaimer just states that if you haven't read An Orange Amnesiac, GO READ IT :)

Why am I making a sequel...because I can >:)

This is the cover for the sequel.

So don't worry the story's not over, new characters and new plot twists are churning. And your weekly, plus every other wednesday chapters will be back.

Sorry for the small heart attack, but I like to keep you guys on your toes >:)

See you next week <3