Archive of Our Own

Mikey flipped to the next page of her comic, intensely fixated. It was an introduction to this new character— a superhero to fight alongside her comic book hero.

Bringing the comic closer to her face, she took in every detail of character design because well… It was a woman. 

If it wasn't known already, superhero comics tend to sexualize women characters even just by the character design itself due to most comics attracting a more horny male audience. It didn't help that this certain comic series was an old one—from an era where any guy would shamelessly beat it to anything that resembled a woman.

Mikey cocked her head to the side, tilting the comic book the other way in her study. Like most of the girls in her comics, this new character wore a very tight and revealing outfit. She seemed to be wearing a push-up bra too, the way her large breasts perched nicely in the extreme cleavage of her so-called “shirt.” Heck- her long, wavy hair draped over her shoulders were more of a coverage than her clothes itself! Not only that… 

But she was packing some real big ass in the back—like it was full on poking out. The leather she wore over the protruding fat shone and stretched, making it appear larger than it was.

She wore heavy make-up as well, her eyes larger than anyone in the series, decorated with lengthy lashes on top. Her lips were plump top and bottom with bright red. 

The overall anatomy and proportions were so incredibly incorrect and ridiculous, with the idea she would fall over immediately if she was to step on Earth today. Her waist was so small to the point she looked like she had no ribs or internal organs. This design made only for sexualization had to be an actual insult to all of womankind… 

So Mikey should've been offended—disgusted even. She was a girl after all. Although… 

She admired it.

Her eyes twinkled as she set it down in her lap, thinking. She's been noticing this trend of late—for awhile actually. Since she digged classics and oldies… almost every cartoon, every movie, every comic, every billboard and advertisement would have a remotely attractive woman—a slim, hot babe rocking curves. It blew her mind that she just started noticing it this past month. It never crossed her mind when she was younger.

It's been bugging her these days—these small noticable aspects that no one seemed to pick up on except her. There was a trend she silently noticed between all favourited female characters, (ones that were always victim to be the love interest of the male main character's in the end) ...

They were all remotely attractive—beautiful in some way. Either it be hair, skin, lips, eyes, ass, tits…

And connecting two and two together… 

Mikey had none of those things—not even a percentage of that. And since Mikey relied on media and the internet as her only exposure to society and womankind for most of her life, (because its not like there were any female role models around the lair growing up), it seemed that if you weren't gorgeous or attractive… 

Then you weren't a woman.

Or at least wasn't worthy enough to be noticed or liked. And like the media geek she was, she started to notice everywhere the little bits and pieces of how the world worked from the sidelines—it starting to bleed down through the sewer drains and into her mind.

Growing up, Mikey leaned more towards the masculine side---all in favor of just following her older brothers' mannerisms. It was just a natural monkey see, monkey do situation—something she never second-guessed and neither did her bros. And her brothers seemed to enjoy her company even more when she did the things they liked.

Gender was a societal concept after all and since there was no society down here… it simply never mattered in her family. There was never a topic or action that was seen as “tomboy-ish” or “inappropriate.” Actually, Mikey even had the opposite problem: being too open about everything. 

Her brothers were always onto her with things like "Hey, we don't need to know that you're ovulating" to "Can you not share your Chris Bradford fantasies at dinner." Heck, she tracked and marked her period on the family calendar that was pinned to the fridge!

Being the only girl around, she didn't believe in hiding or being humiliated about anything she was... compared to the ideologies forced onto her female counterparts above. Everyone was equal down here either it be on the dojo mat, sparing or fighting for the last slice of pizza. And she will forever be grateful her brothers follow the same rulebook—graciously taught by their unbiased father.

But as the years passed by with them going topside to witness the societal exposure in person as well as her growing up...

Mikey started to have an itch... and itch to be something more—to be something more pop like she believed she was supposed to be. It was the least she could do being a mutant turtle.

Still though... Mikey felt like she had no right to call herself a girl because c'mon... just look at her! She had a bald, shiny head with green freckled skin and a shell on her back! To think half of those gorgeous humans up top had something in common with her was almost a sick joke.

And with this yearning, she had a goal to fit in the presumed criteria someway, somehow. She figured she was getting up to that age where she had to actually look mature.

And like in her favorite shows...

...She wanted to be a likeable female character.

Mikey got up and over to the long mirror that hung in her room, gazing at herself. She checked herself out for the fourth time today. 

She leaned into the mirror to look closely at her face, grazing her fingers across her cheekbones. She never did see pretty girls have green skin... let alone as rough as hers was. 

Mikey took a step back with a frown, humming distastefully as she trailed her hands up her plastron to her chest. Her waist wasn't small nor was she thin. Heck, she was as thick and shapey as a brick due to the width of her shell.

She and her older brothers looked the same in a way—all of them wide and muscular. You would really have to squint to notice her face was more round—If the slightly higher pitch in her voice as well as the height difference between her brothers wasn't good enough of a clue. Nothing too striking.

She covered her hands over her chest, reminiscing the tits she could've had. Compared to her human girl counterparts up top, she was as flat as a cutting board, not even having nipples. Guess she shouldn't even be complaining… it would probably suck to always have something to cover up and support at all times. Her plastron and shell hid any signs of her sex from outsiders, keeping all her insides compact and safe as all turtles were made to do.

Mikey winced and turned around, eyes glued to the mirror. She observed her bottom, her tail flickering nervously over it.

Yup… still not packing anything back there. She can cross that off her list again.

C'mon... can't blame a girl for checking just in case!

Either way, she brought her hand down to cup at the crease where it met her thigh, face serious like she was stacking the last card on a pyramid.

When sudden, booming footsteps rapidly approached her door, it was too fast that she barely had any time to react. Her door was thrown open, slamming against the back wall behind it noisely. Raph burst into her room, a hand flat against the door with his eyes livid.

"Mikey!"

Mikey squeaked, her hands shooting up into the air like she was held at gunpoint.

"Dude! Have you ever heard of this thing called knocking?!-"

"We've been waitin' for ya for the past twenty minutes and yer over here fondlin' your asscheeks! Hurry the hell up!" Raph barked before stomping away, leaving the door wide open.

"Hey- I was not!" Mikey whined, face beet red. But she blinked and her brother was already gone, his heavy footsteps fading away.

"Awh man, h-hold up! I'm coming, I'm coming!"

Mikey dashed after him, snatching her nunchucks and skateboard along the way. She followed Raph's stalking form into the main room where their brothers waited, chatting amongst each other. The two perked up when Raph came over and stepped to the side, revealing their little sister.

"There you are, Mikey! We've been waiting for you forever!" Donnie exclaimed, leaning against his bō staff.

"Everything okay?"

Mikey scoffed at her brother's concern.

"Psht- of course I am, brah. Just totally lost track of time. You know, the uhse-"

"Late." Leo interrupted coldly, pushing himself off the wall to stand tall before her, a katana in his grasp. "And for the fifth time this week."

He narrowed his eyes, flipping the katana around so the handle was up.

"We always go out to patrol the same time everynight so I'm not entirely sure how many times do I have to remind you to-"

He leaned in, bringing the handle between them.

"Arrive. On. Time." Leo booped the handle against Mikey's beak with the last word.

Mikey wrinkled her beak in a frown, rubbing at it. 

"Awh, c'mon Leo... You gotta chill! I was busy doing, uhh... stuff? Real important stuff, too!"

Leo lingered his unimpressed stare down at her before scoffing. 

"Cause I haven't heard that the first hundred times." He replied sarcastically, turning to the rest.

"Looks like we're finally all ready to go." Leo announced, giving them a nod. He swiftly sheathed his katana in his shell and jumped over the turnstiles, disappearing into the sewers. 

Looks like they were on the move. 

The rest of his siblings followed suit, vanishing into the darkness of the sewers. Mikey wasn't going to do it boring though. She had her board for a reason.

The second she stepped foot into the tunnel, she threw her board down and pushed with all her might forward. The next thing she knew, she was rolling off in high speeds, whooping and laughing into the eerily silent sewer.

"Catch you slow turtles there!" Mikey taunted as she speed past her brothers, catching the last sound of Leo's sigh before she was gone and away deeper into the tunnel.

She beamed to herself, laughing and cheering with each flip and trick she made along the way—her orange mask tails flapping noisely behind her by how fast she was going. She swore she could do this with her eyes closed—rolling down these sewers since the day she was a tot. It's hard to form a singular thought when you're racing around at ridiculously high speeds. Hence why hobbies like these were her favorite.

Eventually she reached her stop, the particular ladder leading up to the manhole of choice above. Once she was close enough, she tilted the board forward, throwing herself into the air. Simultaneously, she grabbed onto the ladder as the other hand snatched her board flying behind her. This way, one arm was latched onto the ladder, allowing her to sway, while the board was held under her free arm.

Mikey giggled airly while she tugged her board into the belt on her carapace. Wasting no time to recover from that adrenaline rush, she climbed up the ladder and pushed off the manhole. Immediately, she was greeted with the noisy bustle of the city above.

Creeping up into the dark alleyway, she peered back into the manhole to catch sight of her brothers climbing up. Guess they caught up to her. They all appeared so serious compared to Mikey's playful self.

Mikey snickered at their intense faces, pretending to cover the manhole back up before they reached the top.

“Ruh-roh! Looks like you guys were way too slow! Bye now!” Mikey teased, just as Leo slipped his fingers out to grip at the edge of the manhole cover.

He pushed the cover to the side and pulled himself up with a glare pointing her way.

“...Michelangelo.”

“Aw c'mon!" Mikey laughed. "You know I'm just joshin' with you guys! Live a little!”

She didn't even wait for her brothers to pull themselves up onto ground level before she was dashing toward the fire escape and pushing herself off the ground to latch onto the cold metal. Crawling up the fire escape, she threw herself over the rooftop's edge, sticking a perfect landing.

She gazed at the beautiful night sky littered with stars, absently smiling to herself. 

"Ding, ding, ding! We got a winner over here!" She cheered, eyes lingering on the sky before breaking it to look down below to where her brothers were.

"Man, you dudes are more turtle than mutant-"

But just she peeked over the edge, the absolute jumpscare of Raph's mischievous face was shoved into her view, making her yelp. She fell backwards with her shell on the ground, Raph's snickering darkly above her.

"Ehehe... You know the rules, Mikey. The turtle gotta be on their feet for it to count." Raph mocked above her.

His smirk split into a roguish grin as he planted himself right on her chest, actually squeezing her alive.

"Ain't this peachy. Looks like I win." He said cockily, paying no mind to Mikey's gasp. The air knocked out of his sister's lungs, her eyes bulging at the incredible amount of weight on her. 

"Aph- Raph, get offf! Your fat shell's like a bazillion pounds! Y-You're totally gonna crush me me alive! Afgh-" Mikey cried out in a struggle, trying to shove and slap at him. "Raaaph-"

"What about "the ninja travels in silence" don't you two understand!?" Leo whisper snapped with wide, frustrated eyes as he pulled himself over the rooftop edge with Donnie right behind him.

He stood before the two, clearly annoyed with his hands planted on his hips.

"Raph. Get off of her."

Raph huffed, using Mikey's head as pretend support, squishing her cheek against the concrete. She squeaked at the discomfort but overall grateful she would live to see another day.

As he got up, Raph snatched Mikey up by the top rim of her shell and shoved her backward by the head with a surpressed smirk. She whined from behind, face in a defensive grouch.

Raph came over to their brothers, glaring Leo's way. 

"Tsk- we shouldn't even be sneakin' 'round the rooftops. Any foot soldiers or punks come our way up here..."

He brought his sais out, twirling them in his hands.

"...We deal with them- easy."

"Orrrr we can have a normal night for once." Donnie objected. "Unless we stumble across some goons, I think I'm all in favor for a simple patrol."

"Whatever happens... we follow our schedule." Leo interjected, coming in between the two. He jabbed a finger into the middle of his palm, face stern as he darted his gaze between them.

"Don, Mikey—You two go South. Raph and I go North. We all meet up back here in fifteen and drop by April's after. If anything comes up—Call. Everyone got it?"

He mentally checked off the nods gathered from his brothers. Realizing a turtle's confirminaton  was missing, everyone whirled around in search for Mikey. Who, by the way, was staring off into space with an absent, chill smile on her face.

"You got it, Mikey?" Leo strained a little louder, making his sister snap outta her trance.

"Huh- Got who?" Mikey echoed in surprise, doing a slow frog blink—her smile not faltering.

Leo sighed, eyes weary.

"Just... just follow Donnie, okay?"

Mikey thrust forward a thumbs up, flashing her teeth.

Having everyone settled, Leo was already on the move with one foot already on the edge of the rooftop, readying to launch himself to the next one. Raph sent Donnie a teasing smirk his way, playfully shoving his shell as he passed to join their leader.

"Why am I always paired with Mikey? Can't we switch it up every once in awhile?" Donnie groaned, ignored Mikey's "Hey!" of offense in the background.

"Awh- don't be like that, Don." Raph said snarkily with a grin, observing Leo already dashing to the next rooftop. He spared them a final, "You two geeks can entertain each other with yer yappin'. Classic ol' B-Team, am I right?" before following behind Leo, their forms getting smaller and smaller till they were green smudges.

Donnie sighed, looking wistfully to the distant two. He broke it off to face Mikey—only to yelp in surprise at Mikey suddenly right in front with a smile raising her cheeks.

"Awwh, yea-uh! It's a go for a B-Team solo mission today!" She cheered, rising to her tippy toes to slink an arm around Donnie's shoulders and forcibly bringing him down to her level. 

"Who needs those guys, am I right?"

Donnie sighed, accepting his fate. 

This was going to be a long patrol.

Mikey took another deep breath, unloading her spiel where she left off.

"And then I was like "Oh no, not my chips!" And then the chip bag fell into the sewer water but I was really hungry—like my stomach was talking to me! So I just had to eat it and it tasted a little tangy but I would totally go for seconds if I could-"

Donnie stopped listening awhile ago to Mikey's rambles, taking it as his background noise after ten minutes of constant talking. It was kind of freaking him out how his sister could have such good breath control to yap as they ran across the rooftops.

He got so used to it to the point when they stopped on a particular rooftop to survey the area, he didn't even notice when Mikey stopped talking.

Something caught her eye—straying her away from her brother to walk over to the other side of the rooftop to stand at the edge. She gazed at the billboard from across the street, eyes large and curious.

It was an advertisement for this perfume with a lady next to the product—which obviously wouldn't usual be eye-catching because c'mon... they were in New York City, aka a capitalist's wet dream! Advertising was a usual around here. 

It wasn't the product but the woman next to it that made Mikey fix her gaze on the illuminated sign, a glowing replica reflecting off her baby blues.

The woman held the bottle to her cheek as she smiled with stainless, white teeth. Her long lashes decorated over her low lids with an almost alluring gaze. It felt strange... as if the woman was looking into Mikey's soul—as if she was taunting the weird turtle girl with her beauty.

Her pale face didn't have a single mark or crease, her silky blonde hair spilling onto her bare shoulders. Mikey stared at her, mine blank except for this thought echoing in her head that... 

She's...

...She's really pretty.

Mikey took apart the woman with her eyes, deep in her head mentally taking notes and reviewing them when Donnie was suddenly at her side saying, 

"What are we looking at?"

Mikey jumped, snapping her head to him with wide eyes.

"Uh, uh- you know... The city's scenery?" She squeaked, saying such a phrase that was so unlike her that she immediately cringed. Guess Donnie noticed that too because he pursed his lips with a quirked brow, eyes searching for whatever it was that could've caught his sister's eye.

But he couldn't pinpoint anything out of the usual. Nothing seemed eye-catching for him.

He sighed into a soft smile, allowing himself to feast his eyes on their beloved, buzzing city and its people.

Mikey watched her brother's serene demeanor, his purple mask tails flowing a bit behind him with the light from the city below glowing on his face.

Instead of indulging in this chill moment, a reminder of her troubles panged in her head as if "Hey, you thought you were chilling for a second there? Think again."

Her heart squeezed as she sat herself on the edge of the rooftop.

"...Dee?" She called out in a small voice, mind racing of how she should phrase her upcoming question.

“Hm?” Donnie said absently, listening to the cars honking and vrooming below.

“Can I ask you something?”

That certainly caught Donnie's attention, breaking his daze to throw a lost expression her way.

Mikey asking permission to ask a question was borderline concerning. Usually, she just spewed filterless words his way, treating him like Google. 

...Well, this was new.

He sat down in the space next to her, officially joining in on the sight-seeing. He leaned his arm against hers, a gentle smile on his face.

“That question is a conversational opener—a hint that the upcoming topic is a personal, sensitive one.” Donnie stated like the absolute nerd he was. He quirked a brow at Mikey's hands fidgetting in her lap.

He awaited Mikey's question, curiosity building painfully with each second ticking by. Her face being serious and thoughtful wasn't something he was familiar with. It didn't help the way her fidgeting was speeding up with a blush starting to tint at her cheeks.

“Do you…" She chuckled and shook her head like she was acknowledging the question's ridiculousness. 

"...Do you think I'm... pretty? Like do you think I look nice or... or... maybe? Maybe not?”

Donnie leaned back a little to look at her, straight up staring at her now with a baffled expression. He certainly didn't expect that coming.

By the way, this question was coming from the same turtle that was always in his and his brothers' hearing, chanting how she was “the cute one” on a daily.

Donnie cocked his head at her. 

“Oh-ho, wow... What a particularly strange question."

Donnie couldn't lie for the life of him, having a record of being too blunt and factual for comfort. Not that he would lie because the answer to her question wasn't a no. But it put him on the spot because seriously... what type of question was that? Because as every older brother sees his little sister—he saw her as the simple definition of a little scamp/germ that happened to live under the same roof, (not literal roof), as him since day one.

Call him a bad brother but he genuinely did not know how to respond, fighting against his direct, unbiased self versus his affectionate, comforting side.

When he settled on a response, he attempted a queasy smile in belief the choice of words he has chosen was a good one. He was trying his best here.

“While I am unsure why you would possibly ask such a question but, uhhh… I'd say you're mediocre?" Donnie attempted, nervously licking at his lips. "I-I mean, it's not like there's a beauty standard for us mutants. We need way more than four of us to determine the preferences.”

But his confidence was deflated immediately once his gaze came back on his sister, her head completely facing away and out of sight—her demeanor just screaming something off.

That's when a hot wave overcame Donnie, physically realizing he choose the wrong dialogue option.

“B-But mediocre like in a good way! Like- like- like- No, let me rephrase that- I mean decent! Like you look decent!” He exclaimed with a twitching, anxious smile, waving his hands desperately.

He relaxed when Mikey broke into a soft chuckle, face tightly forcing itself into a small smile. She looked back to the scenery ahead, gazing faraway.

“Dude, chillll. You don't gotta lie!" She full on laughed now, fixating on the billboard ahead. Maybe it was Mikey's delusions but it looked like the beautiful woman was staring at her, holding back her own laugh at this embarrassing of a topic she brought up.

"It's not that deep, yo. Just asking for shits and giggles. How else are we gonna kill time?” She said, laying back on her palms to swing her feet off the edge, pretending like she was too absorbed in the view ahead to bother with this.

But in reality, she was trying to ignore her brother absolutely boring his gaze into the side of her head. Recognizing that defensiveness anywhere, Donnie's anxious expression grew into a puzzled frown.

"Now, don't put words in my mouth... I wasn't lying." Donnie pressed slowly, back to leaning in. 

He had the presumption that something was wrong... if he had any idea what it was. 

"What- Where's this coming from, Mikey? You've always been confident about your looks, no?"

Donnie deepened his frown when he heard his sister scoff sharply. He wasn't even able to see her face due to her completely facing in the opposite direction like she was embarrassed. Mikey let Donnie's eyes follow her up when she rose to her feet.

"Hoooly overdramatics, brah. It was just a question." Mikey said, rolling her eyes. "You're starting to be like worrywart Leo 2.0. And believe me- one is enough."

The serious expression on her face flickered a final time before she finally allowed herself to switch back to her normal, carefree self.

A smile tugged at the corners of her mouth, her eyes going larger and brighter with that famous cheekiness behind them.

"Speaking of Leo..." Mikey said as she brought her wrist up to her face. She gasped dramatically at the imaginary watch and flashed her wrist to Donnie as if he could see it. He did not smile back though.

"Holy chalupa! We totally gotta get back to the meet up place stat!" Mikey exclaimed, her tone light once again. "We got like a few minutes to make a run for it!"

And with the bundle of surprises she was today, Mikey spun on her heel and dashed across the rooftop.

"Last one there gets the brunt of Leo's lecture!" Mikey called out in a dramatic, sing-songy voice—jumping to the next rooftop.

She heard her name being called out behind her but she didn't dare to look. Donnie would catch up eventually... Either way, she just didn't feel like talking anymore. Maybe if she was fast enough, she could outrun the embarrassment.

Mikey and her bros ended off patrol as promised with them dropping by April's place for their daily greeting. On the few, rare days they weren't fighting for their lives, the city, or the entire world... they would visit April's apartment to seemingly do nothing but check in. And if she had time, then hangout.

And since today was one of those few days, they were huddled around her couch for a couple hours talking and watching movies. They really had to get off days like this more often.

Eventually, all hangouts have to come to an end because unlike the turtles, April was actually employed and had to go to bed on time so she could function the next day. And before she could usher her friends out of her kitchen window, she remembered a quick, little thing she needed help with and Mikey was the one who held her hand up high, announcing her volunteerism.

So here the two of them were trying to center a painting on April's bedroom wall. One second these ninjas were fighting with blood on their hands and the next they'd be helping their friend level a picture on her wall.

...What a life of a teenage mutant ninja turtle.

"Hmm... A little to the left... Oops, I meant your left- Wait, I mean my left!" Mikey corrected herself repeatedly, face in a goofy smile.

April sighed.

"We're both facing the same way, Mikey. We're sharing our lefts and rights."

Mikey slapped a palm against her forehead, laughing.

"Ohhh, you're right!"

She thought for a second before she was grinning a toothy smile to the back of April's head.

"-Get it, get it? You're right? Awwh yeah, I'm on a roll today!"

April lowered the painting, turning around with a weary smile. 

"Sweetie, I know you wanted to help me align this new painting I got but... how about you go get Leo or Donnie for me?"

Mikey's face dropped at April's subtle fed up, her eyes wide and apologetic.

"Awh, don't fire me! I'm focused! Starting... now!" Mikey gushed, crossing her arms in what she thought gave the impression of intense focus—instead appearing like she was pouting.

"A little to the left." She said in a jokingly low voice, making April laugh. "And then a little to the right- Ah, ah- not that much! Okay... And uh..."

Mikey took another step back, cocking her head to the side.

"...And... And boom! It's perfect!" Mikey embraced, clapping her hands together and bringing it to her cheek. "You picked the right turtle for the job! I take cash and card by the way!"

April chuckled at Mikey's one liner before taking a step back to stand next to the turtle to admire the alignment work. Placing her hand on her hips, she tilted her own head to the side, the two holding the same pose.

"Yeah... Yeah, you're right. It is perfect." She said, pointing an appreciative smile down at the Mikey. "Thank you for your help, Mikey."

Mikey buzzed at the praise, taking it with her as she backed away to flit her eyes around April's bedroom. That was when her eyes caught on something shiny on her vanity.

"Oo, oo- what's that?" The turtle chirped curiously, coming over to it with a finger pressing against her bottom lip.

April drew her attention away from the painting and followed Mikey over to what she was marveling at.

"Oh this?" She asked, picking it up to rotate it around for her friend to see. "It's a birthday gift I got from a friend. It's a make-up bag. Cute, isn't it?"

Mikey nodded, mouth in a "O" when April zipped it open to display its abundant amount of pockets. But each of those pockets were filled to the brim with tubes of different colors of make-up ranging from foundation to mascara to lipstick.

"Woahhh..." Mikey awed, eyes twinkling. "That's a whole buncha..."

"Yup, sure is." April said. "Being a newsreporter means I gotta have a bunch of stuff with me in case of anything. Can't be on screen with smeared lipstick."

But when she looked back up, she noticed the turtle's fixed gaze never once broke off the contents in the bag, practically drooling with wonder. 

April cocked her head, giggling.

"You can have a look, you know-"

"-Yes, please!" Mikey burst like she's been waiting for April's cue and snatched it greedily from her hands. She placed it on the vanity and carefully digged through the bag like it was fragile glass. April stood beside her, curious on what her friend's deal was that could've made her so excited. She observed as Mikey retrieved a tube of lipstick from the rest.

The turtle popped off the cover and screwed it open till she was "Oo"ing at the red hue gradually coming up—bringing it close to her face to goggle at the slant.

April smiled, leaning against the vanity as she admired the young girl's fascination.

"I didn't know you were into make-up. You're studying it like it's your first time seeing it!"

She surveyed as Mikey screwed it back down and closed it to move onto another tube—now popping open a tube of eyeliner.

"Psht- I just think this stuff is real bodacious!" Mikey exclaimed. "I just never got the chance to get my hands on one of these. It's not like the lair has make-up lying around... It's kinda like my secret interest, yo. I watch a buncha tutorials on a daily."

April raised her brows, pushing herself off to stand up straight.

"Woah, really...? Never? You seem like the artistic and creative gal to do whole masterpieces on your face. I can see it being your thing."

Mikey scoffed, putting the stuff back in, expression falling pensive.

"Dudette... with all the kick-butting we do, it'll probably be smeared off and left on the other guy's fist the second it makes contact with my face." She joked, handing April the bag with a small smile on her face.

"Especially, Raph would totally sentence me to teasing for the rest of my life. I would look goofy, yo."

April hesitantly took it and held it between them. 

"Awh, don't be like that. You'd look cute—no matter what Raph says." She dismissed, slightly knitting her brows. "And isn't there not much action going on for you guys these days? This could be your opportunity to try something new!"

Mikey shrugged her shoulders, looking doubtful.

"Ehh... I dunno..."

Her voice faltered off at the sight of April unzipping the make-up bag, thoroughly rummaging through with a look of determination as if she was searching for something.

"Uh, April? What are you-"

"Here." April finalized, handing her a few tubes. "You should take advantage of your guys' free time. You only live once so why not get all dolled up? It's fun!"

Mikey's eyes widened, blood rushing to her cheeks.

"Huh?!" She choked out, either way taking the tubes into her clammy hands. She whipped her head around anxiously before pointing to herself subconsciously.

"Ahah... For me...?"

"No, for the turtle behind you- Yes you, silly!" April laughed. "If you're that into it, then why not try it out? I would totally help you but I got work and a whole bunch for errands to run tomorrow and for the next few days. So in the meantime... why not have a little fun and put use of those tutorials, hm?"

"B-but- but- but... But it's yours!" The turtle cried out desperately, the mask in between her eyes scrunched together. "I don't wanna mess up your fancy stuff with, uhh... my face stuff! I'm like a turtle and everything, yo!"

April tsked like it was ridiculous, appearing even kind of offended Mikey would even bring up such a thing.

"Mikey, you're practically a little sister to me. Since when have I cared about you being a mutant? It's not like you have salmonella or anything. Girls share make-up all the time."

She pleasingly hummed to herself, zipping the bag back up while Mikey squirmed nervously in the corner of her eye.

"But what if these are your favorite and I mess it up!? Y-You'd be totally down!" Mikey borderline pleaded, trying to shove the tubes back into her friend's hands. But April took a step back with a shake of her head.

"Dawwh, don't worry about that! I haven't used those in awhile because for me personally... they're just not my favorite anymore. It's just been rotting in here- Really. And I think it'd look cute on you."

Mikey fell silent, begrudgingly accepting it and pressing it against her chest.

"... Mmm... You think so?" She asked quietly, peering up at her with a foot rubbing shyly against her ankle.

"Even if I look stupid? A full blown laughing stock? Tomato throw worthy?" She asked with a raising pitch, half-joking and half-deadass.

Her human friend bent her legs down a bit to meet at eye level, a sympathetic smile on her face. She gently cupped Mikey's cheek, sighing softly when the turtle's blue eyes stared back at her with doubtful wonder.

"I know so. Since it's your first try, it's a guarantee that it's gonna be wobbly. But don't worry, you'll get the hang of it. Not to mention, you do have skilled precision in those artistic hands of yours."

She gave a few pats to her cheek before pulling away.

"And make-up is all about discovering what suits you the best—rather than make you the best. It's for, well... fun!"

She studied Mikey's face for her incoming reaction just to sag in relief when the corners of the turtle's mouth twitched up against her will, eventually curling into a shy smile.

"Okay, okay, fine! The jury has decided and you won me over. Case closed." Mikey sighed, giving a last look over at the make-up in her hands, her fingers twitching around it. In the very realization that she finally got her hands on something that could help her reach her personal goal, her heart fluttered in excitement.

It was possible now... her dreams of being like those girls were right in the palms of her hands and all she had left to do was to play the given cards right... 

She beamed a toothy grin up at April, chest hitching.

"Thanks a ton, April! You're the best—my top girl!" Mikey chirped, doing a full 180° from bashfullness to thrilled. "I owe you big time! For real, for real!"

April blinked at her, caught off guard by such a dramatic switch before she waved a dismissive hand at her, shaking her head with a smile.

"Hey, I'm just helping out my little sister here..."

April slinked an arm around her shoulders and started to walk the both of them towards the door.

"...And now I'm going to be helping you find your way out because I still have work tomorrow."

Mikey snickered, practically glowing as the two of them left the bedroom and into the kitchen where her brothers awaited her. She shoved her gifts into her belt, making sure they were out of sight so there wouldn't be any questions from her nosy family.

She knew exactly what to do.

She did not know what she was doing.

Mikey retreated to her room right after training the next morning, ignoring her brothers' strange looks when she bolted excitedly without so much of a few jumbled words.

She couldn't wait to get started. 

But she found herself some time later, frowning with shaky hands that she couldn't keep still, at her reflection from where she sat criss-crossed on the floor—one hand holding an eyeliner pencil and the other one holding her T-Phone. This was the equivalent of rocket science for her: looking back and forth from her device to the mirror to copy what the lady in the tutorial was doing.

When she pulled away to throughly examine the results, a turtle she couldn't recognize blinked back at her in the reflection. Either way...

Mikey hated it.

Hated it very much so, to the point of glaring back at herself with her beak crinkled up in disgust like the sight was going to make her hurl.

Multiple hours for this...? Even the turtle who always shined with confidence, constantly bragging to her brothers about anything... understood how embarrassing this looked.

It reminded her of a face she would paint from memory when she was a tot—all wobbly, uneven and smudged everywhere. Mikey even felt like a tot, the way she had to swallow down with all her willpower the strange, unusual urge to just start angry crying and rub aggressively at her face. She was juggling the two worries that were her struggle with make-up as well as the urge to pull an angry Raph, give up, and sob into her pillow.

But if she went with that, it would be done quiet though... She didn't know how she would explain to the guys that she lost her cool over drawing on her face.

She's never heard of other girls getting tantrums over applying make-up—let alone struggle with it.

...Some girl she was.

Mikey forcibly leaned herself forward with narrowed eyes to apply the final touch that was the lip gloss. But just as she slid it across her lips, she pressed it down too firmly, prompting her hand to slip inward with the lip gloss staining a bright colored streak against her cheek.

Mikey pulled back in disbelief of the glittery slash, dropping both hands lamely into her lap. She eyed herself with wide and wet eyes like this was absolutely devastating...

Because in a way, it was for her. She came to the realization that this was futile—That it wasn't the make-up that was making her look all freaky... 

But it was her.

It was her face—her inexperience that she will never be able to catch up on as well as everything she was that was the problem.

It was hopeless. And to think she had a chance in the first place made her cheeks burn up and flush, which certainly didn't help the clown impression the make-up gave her... 

Well... just look at her! She was a mutant—a freak after all... She never stood a chance.

...And no one likes a female character that wasn't pretty and lacked confidence.

Mikey's knuckles turned white and trembled by how hard she gripped at the make-up tubes. She suddenly snapped her head away, not being able to bear the blurry sight of her discolored face all sour and wrinkled up in supressed tears brimming at her eyes. She felt it would be pathetic to cry in her case... so instead she picked Raph's way of handling situations and rotated her entire upper body around to throw the make-up aggressively against the wall, grunting sharply with watery eyes.

Mikey didn't waste any time worrying about the loud thunk the items made. Nor did she care for her bedroom door she slammed open, it echoing throughout the lair.

She was on a new mission: Get rid of her evidence of false-hope, fast. And it seemed like the bathroom would come in clutch for this one. 

Leo strolled into the main room from his own, eyes falling to the figure on the couch. It was Raph hunched over with his elbows on his knees. He was zoned in on the video game he was playing on the TV, his face in a scowl as his fingers made quick work on the controller.

Once Leo got close enough, the gloomy 8-bit music played with the screen flashing "GAME OVER" in bright colors.

"Wow, you're good at this." Leo said sarcastically, watching in amusement at the screen.

Raph roared, throwing the controller to the ground. He snapped his head his brother's way, hands apart and gesturing angerly.

"How long do I gotta wait for Mikey to show up? She was the one who was beggin' me all day yesterday to play this game with her and now she ain't even here!"

Raph grunted sharply out of his nares, snatching the controller off the ground to press "RETRY."

"I dunno how many more rounds I got in me to keep playin' against this NPC." Raph grumbled. "Been almost an hour."

Leo placed his hands on his hips.

"Let me guess... you want me to go get her for you."

Raph scoffed, not taking his fixed gaze off the screen reflecting the action onto his eyes.

"And don't forget to slap her upside the head for me—makin' me wait like a bum." He added in, smirking.

Leo sighed, turning around to leave. He didn't want to waste much time on such a trivial issue so he walked in quick, large strides towards Mikey's room. Quick enough that he almost missed the light streaming in from the crack of the bathroom door.

Leo froze after a few steps ahead of it, his delayed reaction of the sight and sound coming from the bathroom making him do a double-take. It sounded like rushing water and repetitive, aggressive splashes.

He creased his forehead as he backed up slowly, peering through the ajar sliver into the bathroom.

And to his surprise... 

It was his maskless little sister in front of the running sink—repetitively cupping at the water with both hands before splattering it against her face. He observed as she followed it with scrubbing harshly at her face, specifically at her eyes and mouth. Even from where he stood across the room at Mikey's left, he could still catch the irritated, red-tinted skin from all the way there.

Mikey was practically mercilessly clawing at herself.

Well, that and Mikey actually cleaning her face was an extremely rare sight so... 

He pushed the door completely open.

"What are you doing?" His voice, overall collected, still boomed into the room, startling Mikey to whip her head the his way. Still hunched over the sink with a fearful look, she peered through her fingers that froze mid-scrub on her face. He didn't fail to notice her red-tinted eyes. He wasn't sure if it was from the soap or if she's been crying.

"Oh hah- What up, brah!" Mikey strained with half-open eyes, trying to keep calm. "Uh- uh, I'm kinda busy right now! Like privacy and all that so..."

She jumped at the rememberance of the mess on her face, snapping her head in the complete opposite direction so he couldn't catch sight of it.

"J-Just close the door on your way out! Thanks, bro- You're a real one!" Mikey gushed out, going back to letting the water flow through her fingers.

And the second she heard the door click shut, Mikey didn't even bother a glance to check his departure before she resumed her desperate scrub at her face. Unfortunately, she only got a couple seconds in till she froze again, feeling a presence looming behind her. Leo's hands took hold of her shoulders to slowly bring her up till her carapace was flush against his plastron. But the second she was pulled up straight, she slammed her face into her hands.

Leo leaned down to speak gently near her hearing with,

"What's wrong?"

"-Nothing!" The smaller turtle blurted into her palms, too short of an answer for comfort.

Leo frowned, patience losing it's battle against concern. Whatever her problem was... it was behind those hands.

"Dude, really!" Mikey attempted. "I-I'm just chillin'! Just you know... washing my face and stuff. Ahah, you know me... My fav pasttime..."

In a deliberately calm and collected manner, Leo brought his arms around her from behind to tug her wrists down. Mikey offered no resistance, still in the belief that there was hope for all of this to just cool off and return to home base. She allowed her hands to lay lamely in the sink, fingers twitching.

But she squirmed her head around with her eyes squeezed shut—trying to avoid her brother from focusing on her face. Leo wasted no time though, snaking his hand to tenderly take hold of her jaw from behind, fingers firmly holding onto the edges of it so she couldn't writhe around anymore. Tilting her to face up towards the mirror, Mikey was forced to meet her brother's probing gaze lurking behind her in their reflection.

She braced herself for the worst. She sniffed harshly at this forced exposure, not even being able to avert her eyes the way the mirror was taking up her entire field of vision.

Once Leo flitted his gaze over his little sister's exposed face, his hairless brows shot up in surprise. He wasn't sure what to bring up first: The black smudges around her eyes or the faint cat scratches littered around them—no doubt from what he saw earlier.

So all he said was, 

"Huh... This is new."

And without any judgement or teasing either... just taken back and honestly confused. Mikey just whimpered, hands involuntarily circling at the wrist that held her.

Leo squinted, needing to understand what this was before making a proper reaction.

"Is it... What's this stuff on your face?" He questioned, brows settling back down low. "I don't understand."

He awaited her answer, about to ask her again when he didn't get one for an awkward amount of time. But he got Mikey's eventual response of, 

"...I dunno... It's make-up, I guess."

Leo hummed at this information.

"Well, why are you trying to wash it off? Is there something wrong with it?"

"It... It won't come off." Mikey explained—purposefully ignoring his question. "I've tried everything and now... I look like a panda, yo."

And surpringly after that, she found herself free with her brother disappearing from the reflection to open the cabinet near her leg.

But her brother knew her too well. So much so that when she was about to make a run for it, his hand went flat against her carapace with a single word of, 

"Wait."

She puffed out her cheeks in frustration, standing still as Leo came back up with a small towel. He reached from behind her to crank the faucet to be more warmer water and placed the towel underneath the rush, soaking it. 

He turned her around by the shoulders to face him. And with her surprised face presented to him, Leo rubbed at her face gently with the towel.

Mikey stayed silent as she cast her gaze downward—most times having to keep them shut when the wet towel went over them.

This was totally embarrassing... Her brother was literally cleaning her own face for her! But she knew better than to intercept Leo's determination so she had no choice but to just let it happen.

"This might just be my opinion but I don't think clawing at your face was going to help you." Leo suggested in a low voice, putting a little more pressure at a stubborn smudge on her upper cheek.

"...Guess I got desperate...?" Mikey commented with a sheepish chuckle.

Leo pursed his lips, frowning. 

"You could've drawn blood if I hadn't come in here earlier. Nothing is worth hurting yourself for."

Once he was done, Leo pulled back to survey his work, hand still in the air like he was thinking about going back in. But guess the result was deemed alright when Leo flipped her back around to face the mirror like a barber would.

"How about now?"

Mikey blinked back at herself, her apprehensive gaze first falling on Leo's reflection before hesitantly on herself. She grazed her fingers against her cheekbone, eyes large with wonder. 

Mikey was back to what she recognized once again.

"...Yeah, heh... guess your method works better. Who would've known!" She tittered, a nervous smile quirking at her lips.

Leo responded with a "Hmph," letting her go for real this time but still remaining behind her with his hands on his hips sternly.

"'I'll ask again... What's wrong? You looked near tears when I came in here." He asked impatiently for the second time.

Mikey winced, spinning around to peer up at him.

"Dude... I'm being so for real when I say there's nada." The smaller turtle lied, pulling at her finger nervously. "I just got some soap in my eyes! And we all know the stuff has a knack for hurting big time."

Leo studied over her features, mouth in a thin line.

He didn't believe her.

There was something bigger at play—something he didn't understand... 

So much so he didn't even know how to ask about it. So instead he said, 

"Raph's been waiting for you." Leo asserted, crossing his arms broadly. "About some video game-"

"Oh snap! I totally forgot about him! Awh man... He's getting extra practice time without me!" She exploded with wide eyes, suddenly breaking into a run and throwing open the door. When in reality, her sprint was more in the means of an escape from further confrontation.

"Thanks for the help, dude! I owe ya big time! Hit me up when you're in a jam!" She called out, trying to seal the deal with a grin as she waved his way. Leo stood solid as a statue, suspicious eyes gliding to follow her till she was out of sight. 

Mikey sat high up in the fire escape, her feet hanging as she leaned back on her palms. It was her turn to pick up the pizza for dinner tonight so here she was waiting at the designated pizza pick-up spot they always waited at this remote, dark alleyway. She didn't wait too long for the delivery guy to pull up in his car, getting out with the steaming pie box in hand.

She watched from the shadows as he placed the pizza box on top of the dumpster. The human snagged the cash near it, counting through the bills while he retreated back to his car and drove away. He was a regular for them—getting to that point where he could care less of where he was dropping the food off as long he got his tips.

Mikey wasted no time dropping down and snatching the pizza greedily, mouth already watering. Hurriedly, she leaped back up the fire escape and hefted herself up and onto the rooftops.

Before she could run back to the lair to initiate the feast for her and her family... 

She had a few other plans—aka her usual schedule to attend to. 

Mikey stilled and opened the box toward her, displaying the enticing meal to herself. She licked at her lips, taking in the sight that always cheered her up no matter what.

As the tradition goes, whenever it was Mikey's turn to pick up the pizza, she always had a slice for herself on the way home. Her brothers have always hated it, berating her for taking first dibs usually on the best slice either it be the most cheesy or with the most amount of pepperoni.

Their loss, though. She claimed it was the "Mikey Tax."

They were just gonna have to deal with it another night, she thought everytime.

But when she hovered her hand over it, fingers wiggling... it froze mid-air. Her mind chanting "Eat, Eat, Eat!" went silent for the first time ever with a hot pizza right in front of her.

Something caught her eye to her right; something bright that glowed across the street that was pinned above a building. The lights below it illuminated the billboard above, displaying the advertisement for anyone passing by to see.

Again... This was New York City. It was a common sight to have some product or company being shoved in your face anywhere you look... 

But this one certainly caught the young turtle's eye. 

As the delicious aroma of pizza snaked up to her nares, she gaped with an open-mouth at the advertisement ahead. She supposed the product they were displaying were swimsuits... it was summertime. But Mikey wasn't even focused on product but the woman exhibited in the image itself. The woman was shown wearing a yellow two-piece swimsuit and a sunhat on her head. She wore a beaming smile while she ran across the shoreline with Coney Island as the background.

Although still... it wasn't that that caught her eye either. It was the woman's body. And not like in a creepy way but in an insecure way. 

The woman had rich curly hair flying behind her, as well as long shimmering legs with flexing muscles making impact against the sand. The sun hit her skin in a way that made her flawless warm brown glow—not a single speck, scar, or imperfection in sight. 

But her body itself was just... wow. 

The swimsuit hugged her curves in the right places, upping her breast nicely and revealing her body shape. Her hip dips were in view with her semi-plump thighs shining below. Above, her midriff was thin and slim; a noticeable slope from her hips.

But the thing was... she wasn't wearing any make-up. Mikey could tell her face was bare—the advertisement reaching for a more natural touch. So that meant there were other things at play that made her pretty... 

Her body.

The second the realization panged, she looked down to herself with the open pizza box still in her hands. 

Her wrists against the box were thick as well as her digits. Her fingernails were short and jagged.

...Not like the woman in the photo.

Her chest was flat, allowing her a view straight down to her waist with no signs of a slope on either side to reveal her thick ankles supporting her weight.

...Again, not like the woman in the photo.

She never looked like the women in the photos.

But... 

But maybe she could be.

Her gaze drifted back to the simmering, mouth-watering pizza in her grasp. Her stomach growled, calling out to her to stop her hesitating but she didn't answer it. 

Mikey's grip on the box tightened, her jaw clenched tight as she disappeared into her mind for an incoming train of thought.

She failed make-up, she failed hair, she failed skin... 

But maybe... just maybe... she could succeed in becoming thinner—just as all her attractive women counterparts that were constantly displayed in her favorite bits of media.

And as much as everything in her body screamed in protest, she closed the box and instead stared at the pizzeria's design on the top.

She had a plan. A plan that couldn't possibly go wrong because it was simple: either do it or not.

Mikey wasn't going to eat for as long as she could. That way, she could lose weight and become thinner. No matter if it was logical or made sense, (her so-called "weight" was mostly muscle by the way)... 

It made sense to Mikey. 

And that was all that mattered to her.

Elated that she found another way to turn pretty, she smiled at the billboard before she broke into a sprint to go home.

"Finally, Mikey! We were only starvin' here!" Raph exclaimed sarcastically, seating himself down at the table, following their brothers.

Mikey snickered, spinning the box with her finger like a basketball before throwing it onto the table, the cover falling open when it hit the surface. With the pizza open and on display, her brothers digged in, hands slapping and pushing at each other to get the slice they desired.

"Huh... You didn't reinforce your "Mikey Tax" this time." Donnie acknowledged with a pleased smile, retrieving his slice with strands of cheese pulling from the pie.

"Bout time. Guess we finally got through to her." Raph said in between noisy chews.

Leo said nothing, munching quietly on his own slice... 

Too absorbed in watching Mikey from the side.

There was something... off. Something seriously off that he couldn't put his finger on. Especially with this new evidence he just gathered up from the last minute of Mikey not immediately digging in and wrestling Raph to ground to get the slice she wanted was unsual for her... 

But the most noticeable, baffling part was her not budging to grab one at all. Not even a muscle twitch or hands inching toward the box... 

Just her gaze glued to the pizza like it was something forbidden that she desired more than anything. As well as her falling quiet, her lips pursed shut. By now, she would've had gotten the dinner talks of the night going, yapping with a disgusting mouthful of food.

Seemed like the others didn't notice yet though, too busy enjoying the peace to start up their casual chatter amongst themselves. But they were going to soon enough.

Leo swallowed hard, waiting till he finished his chewing to speak. He tapped on the table in front of his sister, gathering her attention.

Mikey jumped up from her daze. Guess the make-up incident from earlier that day were still fresh in her mind because she immediately shyed away from his gaze, looking elsewhere.

"What up, brah?" She said awkwardly.

"Why aren't you eating?" Leo said, cutting to the chase. "You haven't had anything yet."

Mikey's heart dropped to her ass when everyone else stopped talking to stare their way. Guess the words "aren't eating" and "Mikey" together were an attention grabber.

"Pfft- I already ate some, dude. You missed it while you were busy munching." Mikey attempted, leaning back in her chair to teeter cooly on the back two legs.

"...Huh." Donnie realized to himself, studying the pizza below. Mikey braced herself for the ramble written all over her nerdy brother's face.

"Actually- Leo's right. Usually by now, there would be three to two slices left. But from what I can see, there are five left out of eight. The three missing slices are from each of us..."

He pointed to an unimpressed Mikey, her eye twitching.

"Except you."

She leaned forward, propping her chin up with her palm to display her wide, nervous smile.

"Believe or not, I'm just... not, uhh... hungry...?" Mikey winced. And almost on que, her stomach growled noisely throughout the room. Her face grew a bright red.

Leo and Donnie exchanged a look while Raph openly bore his hard stare into her, not once taking it off.

"...Not hungry?" Donnie choked out in bewilderment, lowering his slice down. "But you're always hungry! You always make room for pizza, too!"

"Well, I dunno... A day off won't hurt, am I right?" Mikey argued, feeling herself start to feel frustrated with her brother's persistence.

They were trying to ruin her plan.

"What? What the hell is that supposed to mean?" Raph snarled from across the table, putting his half-eaten pizza slice down in the box.

Donnie cocked his head her way, eyes flitting across to pick up on specific body language while Leo just stayed silent and watchful as he always did.

Mikey could feel herself starting to get defensive as she leaned back, crossing her arms. 

"I just don't wanna eat tonight, 'kay? I won't die from a missed meal."

They sat with the awkward silence and her concerning words for awhile. Her brothers' wide-eyed, baffled stares were starting to tick her off.

A cool hand pressed against her forehead, startling Mikey in the process. She followed the culprit's arm from Donnie beside her, eyes darting over her frustrated reaction.

"Well, you don't have a fever..." He reported to everyone, peeling his hand off. "Do you feel sick?"

As adorable she would find this caring familial moment on a normal day, it was annoying to her to no end at the moment. 

She huffed into a pout.

"Can you guys just cool it? Since when do we give a shell about who eats what? I'm just full from lunch. It's no biggie."

By the way, this was the same turtle that would force Donnie to eat when he missed meals in his lab as well as interrupt Leo's training to drag him into the kitchen when he was going too hardcore. She never had a problem with Raph though—he was built like a tank so he was just as guilty as Mikey, eating the fridge as he did.

Still... this coming from Mikey out of all four of them was wild.

Disregarding all the bullshit she was saying, Raph nodded her way, mirroring her stubborn expression.

"Whateva- I don't even care what yer problem is..." Raph responsed in a low voice, taking a slice and unexpectedly tossing it her way. Mikey yelped, just catching it as cheese dribbled off the edges. Raph sat back, leaning back with his arm propped up against the top of the chair with a hard, forbidding look. 

"...But yer eating."

Mikey's face slowly pinched into a deep frown, her throat tight as she stared at the appetizing, haunting slice oozing in her hand. She licked at her lips but made no other move or sound.

Sure, everyone had those moods at least once in their life where they didn't feel like eating at dinner, so that wasn't the problem. But it was distorted, conflicted expression on Mikey's face that seriously troubled Leo—as well as it being from a mutant who was a notoriously known to be an extreme foodie. 

Leo furrowed his hairless brows.

"...Mikey-"

"I-I'll eat it later!" His sister burst with a queasy smile, relieved she supposedly found a way out. "Promise, just gimmie some time and I'll totally finish the leftovers! L-Let's just go back to chillin'! Ahah... So uh, how was your guys' day?"

She made a move like she was about to plop the slice back into the box but bounced back when Raph slammed his fist against the table, making everything jump. 

"God- Why are ya actin' so weird?! It's pizza—yer favorite thing ever! We ain't tellin ya to build a rocket! Just eat the damn thing!"

"I said I will later!" Mikey repeated, eyes pleading for this to drop. "I dunno how many times I gotta tell you guys..."

She sighed, voice dropping decibels to mumble, 

"...I just don't wanna eat."

Leo forced himself to relax his face, his deep exhale catching everyone's attention. He glanced down Mikey, phrasing his words deliberately slow.

"None of us are going to bed hungry tonight, Mikey."

Mikey sucked in her teeth in a grimace, her leg bouncing anxiously as the stern stares burned into the top of her head. The pizza grease pooling in her hand glimmered with high-defintion, taunting her. Her stomach ached painfully, every wire in her brain urging her to just give in and sink her teeth into it.

"But I... I, uhh... I can't..." Her hand-holding pizza started to lower, almost touching the table.

"And why not?" Donnie challenged. "What could possibly be hindering your quality of devouring some-"

Mikey's patience snapped—unable to physically bear the pleasant aroma blinding her senses as well as her brothers' judging stares.

This nonsense has gone on for long enough in her book.

Startling everyone, she angerly shoved the slice into her mouth, barely giving herself enough time to chew or breathe before swallowing it down in a single gulp. She fell into a coughing fit right after, choking.

Donnie's and Leo's hands were already hitting on her carapace with a flat palm.

"Woah, woah- slow down! Augh, Mikey... T-That's not what we meant!" Donnie declared in between delivering thumps. He reached for a soda can on the table, ready to hand his sister something to help push the food down but Mikey took his distraction to her advantage. 

Mikey was already pushing her chair back and was on her feet, coughing harshly into her palm.

She had a new goal in mind: Get the shell out of here.

Leo followed right after her though, pushing out of his own chair to stand tall in front of her as if to block her way. He pressed a flat hand against her plastron, trying to push her back down.

"Where do you think you're going?" He phrased resolutely, putting more force down. "Seat yourself back down-"

"Welp- *koff, koff* looks like I'm *koff* done early! I'm hittin' the showers!" She strained with a pained smile, bumping his shoulder as she shoved past him. He staggered back, eyes of disbelief following Mikey literally speed-walking towards the exit without looking back.

She went even faster with her shoulders raised when she heard Raph's chair screech back because unlike her other brothers... Lets just say he was the least likely to keep his hands to himself, always yanking everyone around.

"Mikey!" Raph called after her but she was already out the kitchen and rounding the corner, disapearing. 

The brothers all stood standing in the quiet room, remaining in their defensive positions as if it was still happening. They blinked dumbly at the ghost of Mikey's exit, too mystified at the unexpected turn of events to budge.

It was Raph who broke it though, cussing underneath his breath and plopping back down into his chair.

"Anyone wanna fill me in on what that scene was all about? Cause ain't no way we were fightin' Mikey to eat pizza." Raph fumed, simultaneously wiping at his face while he grabbed for his discarded pizza slice.

Donnie followed suit, seating himself back down.

"Beats me. I don't know where this came from. She seemed fine earlier today."

Leo remained standing a bit, gaze glued on the shadowed exit ahead. He was arguing in his mind whether he should or should not go after her... Eventually deciding to seat himself back down with a sigh.

"There's been something up with her these days." He mumbled, propping his head up while he rubbed at his temple. "She's usually easy to read but now I don't have the slightest guess what her problem could be."

Leo frowned to himself, retrieving a slice and taking a bite.

"But I'm gonna find out soon enough."

Mikey sat ontop of the toilet, still dripping from the shower with her forearms on her knees, hunching herself over. With a bleary visual, she pointed her gaze onto the floor, trying her hardest not to cry. 

She failed… and all thanks to her brothers' protectiveness. Seems starving herself was off the table entirely. Heck- she couldn't even miss a meal! Guess her reputation of being a hardcore foodie was bigger than she thought.

Who was she kidding? Her judgement was so out of her right mind that she completely forgot her absolute love for food! She couldn't not eat! Raph was right… she especially loved pizza more than anything. To resist was impossible for her.

Sitting on the toilet cover, she felt heavy—like it was going to cave in. She swore she could feel the way the warm sludge of the pizza was slithering down her compact, pitch black throat—like an infection spreading the fat throughout her body.

Guess it really was time to throw in the towel on that idea for real this time… It's not like she was ever going to get thinner-

A lightbulb went off in her head. She snapped her head up, eyes darting around as her mind raced.

In this short amount of time, the food haven't reached her stomach which meant… 

She hadn't absorbed it yet!

She sprang up, a hopeful smile curling at her lips. She could just get rid of it before it reaches the bottom! Actually, now that she thought about it… it could be her thing! Eating and then getting rid of it. That way, it tricks her brain-wired munchies, taste buds and her brothers while she was at it.

Three birds with one stone, baby!

Mikey laughed to herself, feeling triumphant. She totally just discovered a cheat code—the ultimate, one way ticket to losing weight! She had to be the first one ever to figure this method out!

But now she was weighing her options on how she wanted to do this.

It's not like she had laxatives nor anything to help her throw up… 

…Besides her… 

Mikey slowly brought her thick finger into view, pupils growing large.

She got it.

Mikey fell to her knees, hovering over the toilet. She crinkled her beak at her reflection in the water, half from insecurity and another half from disgust of how close her face was to her entire family's disposal site.

It would be okay, though… she was going to make this quick.

Her heart was pounding, her face in a grimace as she unparted her lips. She was honestly kind of scared. She hated throwing up with a passion—it instantly reminding her of all the nauseous, bedridden days of having insufferable illnesses like the stomach bug. Let alone did she have any experience in throwing up on purpose. If you would've told her a week ago that she would be doing so, she would've called you loony.

But when all the photos of all those attractive babes flashed in her head as a reminder, she built up the courage to shove her finger down her throat. It was more exploring than anything at first, feeling the new, strange texture. Nothing happened at first, nor did anything happen when her entire hand was in her mouth. Mikey giggled to herself, imaging how silly she must've looked right now. 

Just as she was about to give up in belief her gag reflex was bogus, she inched her finger a little deeper, hitting the spot that allowed her entire body to tense and gag painfully. One that sprang tears in her wide, alarmed eyes as her entire body hunched over with the other arm using the toilet rim for full support.

Jackpot.

She went deeper, her entire vision blurred with tears. Slobber leaked out from around her hand and dripping into the toilet. The everything in her blared in panic and agony, trying to prep itself for the dump about to come. She could feel the climax incoming, the way bile from the depths of her stomach from the last hour's meal making it's way up her throat.

She hacked and coughed noisely, louder than she wanted to. Fearful of being caught, she slipped her finger out, trying to reverse the effects.

But it was too late. 

The sound of the door opening beside her with a different colored glow streaming over her was when she finally threw up. The chunks of pizza, soda and the previous meals from earlier that day expelled violently into the toilet bowl. That major hack caused a chain reaction because it just led to another and another no matter how much she tried to stop. Guess the disgusting smell of it as well as the wave of panic of the figure standing at the door played a role as well.

The green blur in the corner of her eye made no action to move or interfere, just rigidly standing to the side. Nor did it make a sound.

It was only when she finished the last of her miniature gags was she able to slowly crane her head its way, panting with herself clutching at the toilet rim, saliva dribbiling down her chin with a watery, glazed over look… 

It was Raph at the doorway, wearing a slack face she's never saw—one distorted to display one of horror and perplexity.

The worst possible brother to catch her.

Great.

Mikey offered a quiet, soft chuckle as she wiped at her mouth with the back of her hand.

“You really... hhf... gotta learn how... hhf... to knock, Raphie.”

Raph took slow steps toward her, just stopping a few before her. Mikey watched from below, studying his every move and reaction flashing over his face—waiting for what he was going to do next. It was all up to him now.

Raph's breathing was heavy and shallow as he zoned in on her slick, wet hand dripping slobber off of it and onto the floor.

He's heard of this picture before somewhere… of people finding their teen kids/siblings/friends hunched over the vomit-filled toilet with a saliva drenched finger. And the reason and result never led to anything good.

Raph bared his teeth, his chest rising and falling rapidly.

…Not his sister.

In a blink of an eye, Mikey found herself being roughly snatched up by the arm and dragged out of the bathroom like a doll. She yelped in confusion, stumbling and tripping blindly behind Raph's marching, blazing frame—too disoriented and weak from vomiting to react. His bruising grip squeezed like a blood pressure cuff, digging his fingers into her upper arm as they traveled across the main room.

It was only until Mikey realized where they were heading when she snapped out of her trance, her eyes going wide. She dug her heels into the ground, writhing and flailing but to no prevail as they headed toward the lab doors.

“Raph? R-Raph! Raph, let me go- Let me go!” She cried frantically, trying to pry the fingers indenting her skin. “Raph, I'm being so for real- Raph! Raph, please! Let go, let go, let go!”

Raph continued to advance, throwing the lab doors open violent enough that they rebounded off the hinges and closed behind them as Raph dragged the both of them in.

Leo and Donnie jumped from where they stood by a lab table, previously discussing something with a blueprint laid out in front of them.

Raph bursting in a ball of rage wasn't out of the norm... but him dragging behind a distressed and horrified Mikey desperately trying to escape was.

“Woah, woah- Raph, what's going on?!” Leo demanded, coming over with wide eyes. Donnie was right on his tail, hands hovering like he was ready to diagnose or wrap up any issue.

“Go on and tell ‘em what I caught yer ass doin'! Go on! Tell ‘em!” Raph shouted, shoving Mikey between the three.

Mikey stumbled forward, almost falling over if it wasn't for Donnie catching her by the elbows.

“Hey- easy, Raph! What happened- What's wrong?” Leo intercepted with raised palms, blocking a panting Raph.

“Caught? Caught doing what? Mikey, what is he talking about?” Donnie asked, crouching his head down to display his forehead creased in concern. 

Mikey jerked back out of his arms like it burnt, looking everywhere but her bros.

“...Uhhh, uh…”

“She forced herself to throw up by the finger is what I'm talkin' about!” Raph declared, pointing at her. “She was kneelin’ over the toilet, hackin' and spittin' everywhere!”

Before anyone could really take in those words, Mikey staggered backwards with desperate eyes, both hands waving back and forth. 

“No- No I wasn't! Don't believe him! He's crazy- Loony even!”

That set Raph up like a volcano because he pushed past Leo to reach for Mikey, his hand returning to its place on her arm to snatch fiercely at her—pulling her till she was practically on her tip toes before him. They both glared hard at each other, neither the other backing down.

"You callin' me a liar?!" Raph accused, enraged. "You go 'head and keep playin' clueless but I know what I saw!”

"I-It was an accident! You saw wrong, dude!" Mikey shouted back in his face. "I just felt a little sick- N-Nauseous!"

"Oh yeah?" Raph challenged. He snagged her other hand and brought it up and out for everyone to see. He pressed his thumb in the middle of her palm, forcing it to open.

"Just look! Yer hand's still all slobbered up from shovin' it! I ain't stupid!"

"No, it's not and yes, you are!" She agrued, ripping her hand away. "T-This something else-!"

"...Mikey." came a grave, small voice behind them. The both of them ceased their yelling match to crane their heads' Donnie's way.

He was coming over in slow steps, an intense, heartbroken look on his face. He seemed to have finally understood what Raph was implying here because he too have heard of this before.

"...You've been purging?"

Raph dropped her back down, allowing Mikey to back away with a cornered look, her eyes darting around.

"I..." Mikey started, narrowing her eyes. "Okay, funny story... You see what happened was-"

"Forcing yourself to... throw up...? Why... Why would you ever do that to yourself?" Leo asked in disbelief, gawking her way.

Everyone was disappointed in her now—looking at her like she was crazy... 

Well, she sure felt like it now.

Mikey flipped out, not able to take her brothers' openly rude stares anymore. Her breath picked up speed, baring her teeth as if there was a threat.

"C-Cause it's my body and I can do whatever I want with it! It's my choice! And... And I can make my own decisions!" Mikey screamed with wild eyes, hands in fists at her sides as she delivered a stomp into the floor. Everyone froze, standing before her with bewildered stares as if she grew another head.

But Raph didn't back down—yelling was his thing afterall. This was the equivalent of someone finally speaking his language.

"No shit, Sherlock! Heck- you can getta tattoo square in the middle of yer face and none of us would give a fuck!" Raph roared back, stomping over to her with his chest puffed up. Mikey backed up into the table behind, knocking a few items over.

Raph came up right in front of her, jabbing a finger into her chest while glowered down at her. 

"But the second ya do something that harms yerself... that's when we get involved, ya hear? Just as you would for us... any of us."

"Well, I... I..." Mikey swallowed hard, forcing herself to meet straight into his fierce eyes.

"...I just... don't... care?" She squeaked, immediately shrinking once she saw the words fuel up the absolute flame in Raph's greens.

Leo forced himself out of his trance to place a hand on Raph's shoulder from behind, voice in a warning.

"...Raph-"

"You don't care... You don't care, huh?!" Raph exclaimed, cracking his knuckles. "Oh-ho, I'll show you "don't care-!"

"Okay, okay thank you, Raphael. How about you go on and cool down?" Leo insisted, pulling him back by the shoulder. "You aren't the most… good of a talker. Donnie and I will talk to her, okay? So how about you go take a breather and-"

"Oh no, no, no- Ya hearin' all this bullshit she spoutin'!?” Raph complained, pointing an accusatory finger Mikey's way—who by the way was just sheepishly waving at them as Leo literally dragged Raph back by the bicep toward the doors.

“She over here callin’ me a liar then crazy then stupid then she-"

"I mean it, Raph- Cool. Down.” Leo asserted. “It'll be fine.”

With a baffled, wide-eyed look, Raph was drawn out the door. 

“But- But- She… Mikey-!”

“If we need yelling, we'll call you, okay?” was all Leo said with a few reassuring pats to his shoulder. Then did he slide the lab doors shut in his face.

In disbelief, Raph had a few moments of silence before it caught up to him. He cussed outside the door, kicking at the arcade machine nearby.

“Tsk- yeah, whateva! Good luck with that, you therapists in training!” was the last words heard from him as he stormed away, fuming.

But just as Leo was about to turn around and march back up to the scene behind him, Mikey crept passed him with a queasy smile on her face, reaching for the door handles.

“Welp, it's been fun, dudes! I'm just gonna show myself the way out, ahah…”

“Oh no, no, no. You're not going anywhere until we get some answers.” Leo scolded at the mere audacity to flee, snatching at the top rim of her shell to drag her back over to where Donnie stood. Mikey just gave up at this point—frowning with crossed arms with her heels scraping against the ground.

Leo brought her over to stand in front to them, their two shadows crowding over her. Mikey shrinked in on herself with a self-consious giggle, rubbing a clammy hand at the back of her neck.

"How long, Mikey? How long has this been going on?" Donnie pressed, borderline pleading.

His sister sighed, leaning her shell and elbows against the edge of the table behind her. She felt like she could just melt away in embarrassment right now. This was so unnecessary in her book.

"Dude... I- I was just trying it out for the first time- ya know, experimenting! It isn't such a big deal."

Donnie shifted his weight to a leg, one hand on his hip with the other rubbing at his bulging temple.

"Okay, so you're not dependent on it yet... Good, good- This is good." Donnie muttered to himself, arching his brows up.

He let his hand up from his face, peering directly at her now, serious as she has ever seen it.

"But you do know that with every experiment, there is a preferred goal- an hypothesis. So please, do enlighten us when I ask... What was your reason?"

When Mikey didn't respond, Leo slid a thick finger under her chin, abruptly lifting it up to meet his stern gaze.

"We're waiting for you, Mikey. And we'll wait for as long as we need to till we get something... What's. Going. On."

His sister tsked, trying to appear tough besides the fact that tears sprang in her eyes. She snapped her head away, leaving his surprised finger hovering in the air.

"I just don't wanna talk about it, brah... I'm playing my skip." She said in a low voice, repeatedly squinting her eyes to withhold the tears from falling.

Leo crossed his arms, sighing sharply out of his nares. He nodded towards Donnie as if "You say something before I do."

Donnie sighed, coming closer.

"Unfortunately, that wasn't one of the options." Donnie said, placing a hand on her shoulder, grazing his thumb over the edge of her collarbone. "It's not only this but many things that point to the signs that something is wrong. Either it be always in your room nowadays, looking more in your head than ever, or just... not being yourself... And I know you know what I'm talking about. You can gaslight Raph all you want but you know we're not that easy to deceive."

She turned her face the complete opposite direction now, in hopes to prevent the chance of her bros noticing her crumbling state. But Donnie took her vulnerability to his advantage and prompted her forward.

He shifted his hand to the nape of her neck with the other hand's finger nudging her by the cheek his way. 

"So please, Imōto... Tell us what's wrong." He asked gently, darting his eyes over her flushed, leaking face.

Mikey cracked underneath the pressuring spotlight. Sniveling openly, her chest and shoulders matched her sputtering, broken cries while fat tears ran down her cheeks. The sight instantly made both brothers' faces pinch and lean in, intently focused on each of Mikey's distraught features.

"Buh-But I said I don't wanna talk about it! I... I just don't want to! Why can't you dudes leave it?!" Mikey fussed tearfully, bringing an open palm to shove against Donnie's chest to give herself some room. But to no prevail with her current emotional state weakening her.

"Dawh- c'mon, Mikey... Don't be like that..." Donnie cooed, taking hold of the wrist and slithering it down to grasp at her hand.

"Leo and I..." He glanced toward said brother watching the two like a hawk a mere foot away. "We just want to understand-"

"I-I know what I'm doing! A-And it's for a good cause and you can't- no one can... can-!" She incoherently babbled, her cries broken and uneven. "C-Cause you dudes don't get it! And I... but, I-I know- Eep!"

Leo was already over and hefting Mikey up by the side rims of her shell and up onto table behind her. The cool surface below pressing against her thighs made her shudder, making her more of the trembling wreck she was. But that only lasted a few seconds till Leo was melting into her, engulfing her into a warm hug that squished her wet cheek into his shoulder. Like a switch, she immediately stopped crying, confused why they were suddenly embracing each other. But out of habit, she hesitantly shared it back, wrapping her arms around his shell.

"Calm down, Mikey. You're not making any sense." Leo mummured near her hearing, rubbing a hand up and down her shell. "You're right. This doesn't have to be "such a big deal." We're just talking, okay? Nothing too overwhelming."

Mikey blearily blinked, at a loss for words. Another hand joined in to stroke her shell, it being from Donnie this time. And when she perked up from Leo's shoulder, her genius brother was offering a small half-smile her way.

Mikey faltered, finally leaning into her elder brother's arms.

"This is bogus. You guys just don't know when to let up, you know?" She muffled into his shoulder.

"Well, I'm sorry we care about each other in this family." Leo replied, a faint smile in his voice.

That was when Mikey's heart swelled, tears making its grand appearance once again. The surge of gratitude at the support she was being given won her over as she suddenly squeezed Leo as hard as she could in a bruising hug.

Leo grunted, grimacing in pain.

"Okay, wow- hah... Uh, Mikey? You're, hhng- kinda squeezing me a little too hard here- Can you... can you maybe, uh... ow...." He strained, trying to unfurl his arms around her but she kept them both locked in place.

"I-I'll never look like them!" She cried without any context, keeping her iron-strong grip her brother.

When Leo finally pried himself free, he cracked his neck with a groan. He forgot Mikey could be scarily strong when she wanted to.

"Mikey, we aren't mind readers. Who is them?" Donnie questioned.

But for some reason, that question made her fall silent, her breath hitching. 

"Well, just been thinking about I look totally gnarly compared to... you know..." She mummured self-consiously, realizing how ridiculous it was now that she was saying it aloud. She sure could use Leo's shoulder again to hide her flushing face. She even looked expectantly his way... but he was crossing his arms again, his shoulders back as he actively listened for what she had to say. He even nodded toward her to continue, narrowing his eyes even further.

She felt like she was put on a microphone, all eyes on her.

"...Like the chicks up there... up top." Mikey whispered, fiddling with her fingers.

But when she forced herself to face them, they looked just as lost as she looked embarrassed.

"The who... where now?" Donnie asked, cocking his head innocently as he threw a glimpse to an equally as confused Leo. They had no idea what she was implying here.

Mikey groaned, falling backwards to lay on her shell to sprawl against the table. Her mask tails flew forward onto her face.

"Brah, I mean the human babes topside! Like I don't look as... nice... as them cause- Hah, news flash... I'm a mutant and stuff... yay..." She huffed, blowing the mask tails out of her face.

Silence ticked by as her regret grew.

"...Oh." Donnie voiced eventually, softening. "Awh, Mikey... Is this what this is about? Body image?"

Well, hearing it aloud and phrased like that made it sound ludicrous. They were ninjas for pete's sake!—Going through the toughest, life-endangering battles practically on a daily! It embarrassed her deeply that out of all things that could bother her... looks had to be one.

Shell... She felt so pathetic.

Still, Mikey knew Donnie didn't mean it that way... but she seemed to be a fan of assuming things at the moment.

Humiliated, she didn't respond and instead spent her time rubbing her forearm at her leaking beak.

That was until there was a hand engulfing her knee, giving it a few pats.

"C'mon Mikey, sit on up." Leo said, sounding more gentle than he has ever sounded since this started. "We prefer actually seeing your face when we talk to you."

Mikey let out a shaky sigh, bringing her aching, heavy body up to sit with hunched shoulders while her feet dangled off the edge of the table lamely. The corners of her mouth tugged downward deeply, her brows above it scrunching the mask in between it. She felt like she was getting interrogated here—put on the spot. This was too embarrassing of a topic to talk about with older brothers... It's not like they would get it anyway.

"Man... We shouldn't even be talking about this. It's totally corny, yo... I should really invest in a diary or something." Mikey mumbled. 

"What? Of course, we should be talking about this..." Leo said, voice barely above a whisper. "We care about you so of course we would wanna hear you out on something bothering you to the point of harming yourself."

Mikey visibly cringed, feeling the absolute sap radiating from her bros. Guess purging counts as harming yourself but still... It made it sound bigger than she wanted it to be. She just wanted this all to blow over.

She snapped out of her train of thought when the sound of her purple-banded brother steps ensued, following him walking away deeper into his lab. His presumed departure could almost make her smile. This was great actually! She figured she was finally weirding her brothers out one by one... So looks like her yearning of this dreadful conversation coming to a close was coming to a reality!-

...Oh... nevermind. 

Donnie was coming back with a stool he snatched from nearby. Mikey couldn't stop herself from groaning at the sight of her brother settling himself on top of it because it meant... 

They were going to be talking for awhile.

Mikey wiped at her face, stretching the skin under her eyes. She would kill to be snug in bed right now—letting this topic be slept on and forgotten in the morning.

"Define the "chicks up there." I want to hear what you think you're missing." Donnie said first thing once he sat down, crossing his legs. His return made it look like in those few mere seconds of walking, he went from a caring, gentle brother to a direct, professional mindset the way his demeanor switched up.

Mikey's brow twitched inward, gaze drifting away in thought.

"Pfft- dude, have you seen them? They're all... really pretty. Feels kinda like a messed up joke that I'm a girl too. Heh... gotta fit in the status quo, ya know what I mean?"

Both of her brothers just stared at her like she grew another head, eyes wide and lost.

'...What?' Donnie mouthed to Leo, who was flashing him a bewildered look back. Never in their lives have something like this came up or ever crossed their minds.

"No, we don't know what you mean, Mikey." Leo phrased slowly, giving her knee a squeeze. "I... There is no criteria in being a girl. Neither there is for being a guy or human or mutant. We just are."

Mikey's mouth went into a thin line, staring down at her dangling feet. The urge to call out "Bullshit!" was strong.

"...Cause you dudes just don't get it. Girls are... They're supposed to look nice." She settled on with a quiet, somber voice.

Her brothers made a "Huh?" at the same time, searching for the answer in each other's face once again. But seems like they were in the same boat. 

"...Mikey, do you even hear yourself? No one is "supposed" to be anything." Leo said with his features scrunched up.

"A-And where are you even getting this from?" Donnie strained, brows low. "From the streets below when we race across rooftops? That's not enough data to make such an outrageous conclusion on half of humanity."

Mikey huffed, rolling her eyes like it was obvious.

"Duudeee... I mean from the internet and TV and all that jazz... You know, like the world newspaper!" She explained, her voice starting quiver again. "It's everywhere!"

And all of a sudden, her brothers were leaning back straight, returning their hands to themselves. That made Mikey perk up in confusion, instantly replaying what she could've said that would make them give her such a strange look. The brothers' momentary surprise sagged to give Mikey a look hard enough to make her squirm.

"...You do know everything you see on there is a sham, Mikey..." Donnie spoke deliberately slow and precise, making sure she understood.

But when his sister just offered an empty, slow blink... realization flooded his face.

"...Right?"

"...Huh- What?" She squeaked, eyes pooling with tears again as she darted between the two. This was practically the equivalent of telling her reality was all false.

Her chest started to pick up speed again, her hands in fists in her lap.

"No! No but... B-But you gotta believe me! That's what people like!" She blubbered pitifully, borderline pleading. "I see it whenever we... And- And when we watch-"

"Imōto." Leo shut down firmly, in that certain tone that always made her fall silent.

"Just because humans prefer putting attractive and eye-catching types of people on screen the most, doesn't mean it's reality."

He gestured his hands around the lab.

"This is."

Even though Leo just started his spiel, Mikey found herself quietly weeping again, tears bubbling down her cheeks. And although the entire lab was a swirl of colors, she continued to listen to what he had to say.

"Whatever you see isn't supposed to be taken to heart- especially in our case. Mikey... they don't even know we exist. They don't know our story and what we've been through... and we probably will never gain that understanding." Leo explained gently, booping her beak to make sure she was paying attention.

Mikey jumped, pointing her blue, teary-eyes his way. He tried his hardest not to falter and soften at his little sister's pouting and keep his serious, steady tone. He landed a hand on her shoulder, squeezing it as he continued to explain. 

He wasn't going to give up till she understood.

"Everyone looks different because they all have different circumstances and experiences—the media just isn't a fan of showing that because like I said... it isn't real. It's just for the eyes. There is no pretty or ugly at the end of the day. Traditional... gender norms are pressured by people who can't look outside their own shell- er... own desires. Why would you feel the need to change yourself for people you don't even know? Is that your meaning of life—to fulfill others wants?"

The lab was silent now besides the huffing from Mikey's soft cries. Her throat was so contricted that she didn't even dare to respond.

"Is it?" Leo purposefully repeated, hands beating Mikey's to it to scrub and wipe his thumbs at her tear-streaked, flushed cheeks.

"No," she forcibly allowed herself to choke out, whining as his thumb glided over her squeezed shut eyes.

The second he pulled away, there was something pressing against her right side. It was Donnie seating himself up on the table beside her, wrapping an arm around her shoulders.

"But I suppose you're right; there being no one quite like us that is. Specifically in your "girl mutant turtle" case..." Donnie said over her harsh sniffs, rubbing up and down her arm. "But you don't need to rely on what a screen shows to prove your own existence."

He studied the top of Mikey's head from where he sat, observing his sister's shaking frame with her stare weighing on her open palms laying up in her lap.

Donnie sighed, leaning in to speak gently near her hearing.

"You be your own representation... You're own favorite main character of your own life, Mikey." He said, emphasizing on every few words with a slight shake to her arm.

His voice dropped decibels till it was practically whispering, 

"...So what do you want to see from her?"

When Mikey's breath hitched for another cry, she didn't exhale this time. She stilled, her face going slack.

... 

She's never thought of it that way.

It blew her mind so much that out of the blue—even with her eyes still bloodshot, she threw her head back to break into airy, hoarse laughter. She leaned back on her palms, breaking Donnie's wrapped arm around her.

"And you guys calls me a cheeseball! You dudes sound like those corny motivational quotes they have in calendars. Heh- maybe it could be your side gig." She snickered wetly, grinning at them—genuinely grinning.

Her brothers' words got through to her alright. And they could see it did.

Donnie sagged, wiping at his damp forehead. Metaphorical feeling talk definitely wasn't his thing—never was. It always stressed him out, being thrust into these sort of confrontations... but seeing Mikey's face beam again, her raised cheeks still damp from her previous weeping made it all worth it as it always did.

Leo, on the other hand, figured they weren't out of the woods yet. He came right up before Mikey when she sat up straight, rubbing at the back of her neck with a sheepish smile. Cupping at her chin, he brought her up to face the shadow he loomed over her.

"And understand me when I say this "first time experiment" of yours is your last, Michelangelo. It's not happening again. It won't." He assured lowly, tone not up for discussion.

But his sister didn't match his seriousness, too at peace to challenge him. She trilled at him, smiling.

"Wasn't planning on it. It's majorly sucks- Blegh! I can still taste the aftermath! It's like a mix of sour gummy worms with pizza- which I usually like... but this one is totally rancid!"

Leo softened, shaking his head with a relieved smile.

"I'm glad we're all on the same page, then." He cooed, moments before planting a quick chu on her cheek. Mikey wrinkled her beak with a terribly surpressed smile, scrubbing at the site with the back of her palm as Leo turned on his heel to make his way toward the lab doors.

"I should probably go check up on Raph." He said, hand freezing on the door handles. "He's probably grouching up a storm right now for all we know."

And with that, the two remaining turtles watched the doors shut behind their eldest, the flash of blue mask tails swooshing past the diminishing door crack.

Now left Donnie and Mikey, the two still seated beside each other. Donnie opened his mouth with a finger up, about to say something but his sister beat him to it.

"Ruh-roh, looks like it's sleep o'clock! Time to hit the hay!" Mikey announced, clapping him on the shell hard enough to almost cause him to topple over by how hard her playful swat was.

She was already sliding herself off the edge of the table and planting her feet on the floor. The hot wave of realization of the sappy conversation they just had were catching up to her, making her want to run and hide from embarrassment.

"Thanks for the chat, Dee! You're the turtle—a real one! So I'll cya tomorrow morning-" She chirped, preparing to dash just to be cut off by the snag of the top rim of her shell.

"Now, not so fast, Mikey." Donnie said, getting to his own feet and pulling her back, ignoring her groan of protest. She flipped herself back around and frowned up at him, crossing her arms with a look that said "What?!"

"You know... I was thinking about your question from yesterday. You never allowed me to finish my response." Donnie said thoughtfully.

Mikey's eyes went wide, darting nervously around.

"Haha- Whatever do you mean, my sweet brethren?"

Donnie huffed, rolling his eyes.

"What I mean is your question on the status of your prettiness..."

He smiled carelessly. 

"From an outside, brotherly view, I would say you are persay... cute at times- If that makes you feel any better."

But when his eyes came back to hers, he was met by Mikey's cheerful face completely dropped, her own judging gaze flitting him up and down with her beak wrinkled.

Never in his life has he ever seen his sister with such disgust in her reddened face.

Donnie burst out laughing, using her solid shoulder as support. Mikey frowned at him, her bottom lip in a pout.

"I'm not cute, brah." She mumbled defensively.

"What!?" He guffawed. "But you're the one whose always calling yourself the cute one! Thought'll be like music to your ears!"

"It is. But it sounds gnarly when you say it." Mikey grumbled, watching him pull away with literal tears in his eyes.

"Huh... guess that's proof you don't need validation from others to be confident in yourself, do you?" He stated with a knowing smile, lightly shoving her shoulder.

He also beat her to it when she opened her mouth to respond, interrupting with, 

"Ah, ah, ah- Yes, I know I'm a genius with words. Again- another correction point for Donatello." He smirked, placing his palm flat against the back of her head. And before Mikey could churr into it, the endearing moment was cut short when his hand suddenly shifted down to her mask tails to yank up at them.

"Yow! Donnieee- I thought we were havin' a moment-!"

"And friendly reminder: if you ever unreasonably force yourself to throw up again, then there will be a multiple hour long seminar on how detrimental purging is in order." He finalized, giving a sharp tug that drew a cry from her before he let it slip past his fingers.

Mikey latched onto the strips defensively, glaring up at him with a pout. Donnie simmered in satisfaction of getting through to her, giving a few pats on her head before leaving for his desk. She remained in an awkward stance alone, eyes large and following Donnie's shell.

"And with that finalized, some of us have work to do so... Doctor's orders are to just go get something to eat. You're on empty." He insisted, plopping himself down on his desk chair. "Oh, and close the doors on your way out- Much appreciated."

With a headrush of warm gratitude coming over her, Mikey smiled his way, biting at her cheek while she forced herself to leave—closing the doors behind her shell as prompted. She stood there for awhile, hands glued behind her shell with the door handles in her grip. Mikey's mind was busy at work connecting all the pieces of the mind-blowing confrontation that just went down. 

She was so busy in fact... that she didn't even notice Raph come in from the kitchen with a paper plate in hand, scowling at nothing.

"Whaddaya doin' standing there—smiling to yerself like a goof." Raph bit from where he sat himself down on the couch. "Come 'ere and watch TV with me or somethin'. Not like yer busy... you don't got anythin' else left in you to throw up anyway."

Mikey mockingly gasped, the classic mischievous smile she always pointed towards him back as she came over to throw herself beside him.

"Too soon, bro... Too soon."

The mouth-watering smell of pizza hit seconds before it was thrust into her hands. She gaped at the sudden paper plate in her grasp, it holding a pizza slice.

"Here. I saved you a slice... Eat it." He demanded as if he was ready for defiance.

But Mikey burst out laughing, wasting no time to graciously take a bite.

"You don't gotta do all that, dude. I'm eating, I'm eating!" She giggled, gesturing with the slice in hand to his stoic face—one too serious for offering a slice of pizza. "But appreciate it big time, bro."

She sank into the couch, manspreading herself like she owned the place. She outreached her hand towards him as if she was patiently waiting.

"Remote control me."

Raph tsked, bonking her on the head with it. Mikey made a wounded noise, rubbing at her head with a scowl.

But she stopped the rub when Raph held it out for her this time, a narrowed-eyed smile on his face.

"Don't be stupid, Mikey." Raph said thick like honey—the closest he ever gets to expressing verbal affection. He shoved it into her hand.

Half-confused, Mikey brought the remote control up to point it at the TV. She hesitated, the pizza slice in her hand inches from her open mouth, ready for a second bite. She met the eyes of her black-tinted duplicate reflecting off of the screen ahead—the turtle sitting "unlady-like" with pizza grease already dripping off her fingers.

Instead of the usual disgust and shame her reflection would give her—she felt a sense of carelessness. A cheesy smile made its grand appearance on her face, the same flashing teeth sinking into the slice. Instead of indulging in the opportunity to check out her flaws, she turned on the TV to start up the brightly colored false reality.

She shouldn't even use the TV screen as a mirror...

It wasn't accurate anyway.

It was when she dug her shell into the couch, letting herself lean against Raph who was already stealing a pepperoni off of her pizza, did she realize something.

If she was, (get this)... a fictional character... she wouldn't care if she was the fan favorite of the show or not.

She was her own favorite—whether you or the rest of the fans liked her or not.