-1So, I am like totally a noob at turtles, but hey! Everyone's gotta start somewhere, right? This story is probably clichéd through the roof, but that's what makes it cool.
Disclaimer: I don't own the turtle boys, as much as I wished I did.
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So long as we have a place we can be together…
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Mikey has always known he was a little different than his brothers. And for many years, he was fine with that.
His brothers were all serious - too serious, too often. It seems like they forget everything around them at times, and would drown themselves in their respective bad habits if they weren't pulled out of it.
During those times, all he had to do was give an item a little dose of "Mikey love", or annoy one of his brothers to breaking point. The results weren't pleasant for Mikey, but they worked. His brothers stopped being serious and focused, if only for a few short minutes.
Now, if only he could find a way to give himself the same type of break. If only he could find a way to act serious for a day, to just relax and be himself without having the other turtles act like he was sick or trying to get a favor. A day where he wouldn't have to pull an idiotic prank, just so his brothers would stop being serious.
And yet, that was so impossible a dream that he'd forgotten what being himself was like.
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"Mikey! Get up!!" A hand applied forcibly to the back of his head enforced the verbal command.
"Ow!!" Cracking his eyes opened, Michelangelo found himself looking up at a very irritated Raphael. Great. He'd overslept again.
So much for his dream of proving himself an asset to the family.
"Come on, dumbass, you've been asleep for half the morning! If you don't get up right now, you'll be late for practice, and I ain't covering you this time!" With that, Raphael turned and stomped out of his room, grumping about baby brothers.
Yeah, love you too big brother, he thought with a snort as he pulled himself out of bed and glanced towards his clock. He never set the alarm - why should he? His brothers always got him up, and the few times he'd tried to wake himself up, he'd either ended up snoozing the alarm for two hours, or having his brothers stare at him like he was alien.
Mikey? Get up on time? Heaven forbid it be anything but a pod person.
The clock told him all he needed to know - Raph had been lenient this morning, and had woken him up at a decent time to get ready before practice. Which meant bathroom time. Yes!
As he was taking care of morning business in the bathroom, Michelangelo paused for a moment, studying his reflection in the mirror. He tried copying one of his brother's stern frowns, but all that ended up reflecting in the mirror was a mad pout, which turned into a grimace. Not cool at all.
With a sigh, he continued on with his day. There was no way to change the inevitable. He would always be the baby brother, the joking, not-serious brother.
If only he could change the past, go back to his old self and tell him to be serious, to pay attention to his lessons and not be a goof-off…
Well, it probably wasn't the best idea. Who knew how his brothers would end up then, with no one to make sure they didn't take themselves too seriously.
And yet, he wished it could be true - for at least he could have been himself, then. Maybe.
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Mikey was brooding - that much was obvious.
Raphael had not been a big brother for fourteen years now without learning how to read his youngest brother's emotions. It was easy to see, in the way Michelangelo spaced out instead of playing tricks, in the way that he performed his katas absent-mindedly instead of lazily. He was thinking, and not on a new prank, because there were no random smiles or snickers as Mikey thought out his plan.
No, Mikey was disturbed by something, and therefore brooding on it.
And this worried Raph.
He always had considered Mikey his little brother. Sure, Mikey was everyone's baby brother - he was the reason the three elder turtles trained so hard. They had all wanted to make sure they were capable of taking care of Mikey, so that nothing would befall the cheerful and innocent turtle.
But still Raph had always considered Mikey his - the only turtle that could calm Raph out of one of his bad rages with just a smile or silly prank. Sure, it often made Raph want to kill him, but at the same time it made him precious. The baby brother that only Raph could mess with - if anyone else dared hurt Mikey, there'd be hell to pay.
He knew that Mikey's pranks were actually good for the team. It kept them on their feet, and yet relaxed them at the same time. They all forgot to be ninjas in those moments - and they were better off for it.
So, Mikey brooding was a big thing. Mikey didn't brood, unless something was seriously wrong. But what could be wrong? Raphael didn't know of anything that could be worrying his little brother.
And that, somehow, made Raphael feel even more worried about it.
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Annoying. Annoying annoying annoying.
Michelangelo let those words flow through him, becoming energy to do his kata. Though he wasn't paying as much attention as he should to the moves, the anger those words caused let him put as much strength behind his punches and kicks as any of Raphael's.
He knew the others had recognized his mind wasn't as on practicing as it should be, but he was Michelangelo. It was a rare day when he did concentrate on practice. They wouldn't think anything of it, at least not during morning katas. Maybe later in the day - Raph was looking at him oddly from time to time, and Raph was the hardest one to hide his feelings from - but that would be later.
And Mikey fully intended on not being in the lair for the "later".
He had decided that enough was enough - he was going to go out and do what Michelangelo wanted for a day. He was going to go out, damn the consequences.
In out words, Michelangelo was going to do what he had termed "pulling a Raph", and would spend the entire day and night out of the lair.
It would be bitter, but…
He clenched his teeth as Leonardo rapped out another sharp reprimand at him for not performing at his best.
It would be far, far better than here.
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After morning practice was over, Michelangelo threw a quick lunch together for his brothers - mad as he was with their treatment of him, there was no way he'd let them in the kitchen unsupervised - and pretended to hide away in his room with his sketchpad.
In reality, he turned on the music in his room, waited until his brothers and Master Splinter had no eyes on the exit, then trotted out the door without looking back.
While he didn't go topside nearly as often as, say, Raphael or Leonardo, he knew his way around the city quite well. And there was a place he frequented often when he needed to get a little air.
It was a skyscraper, with a little roof garden on top of it. It was taller than the other buildings in the vicinity, and Michelangelo had long ago memorized the schedules of the gardeners. By the time he snuck there, it was nearing sunset, and so, with their jobs done for the day,t here would be no one to interrupt Mikey until tomorrow morning.
Settling in on a ledge with a sigh, he surveyed the cityscape around him. It would be a while, several hours probably, until his disappearance would be discovered. He'd go back before then, so as not to worry any of his family.
But for now, right now, he'd stay here, indulging in some reflective alone time. An act that would have all his brothers in an uproar, sure he would be sick to be so calm willingly.
That was the annoying part, really. That nothing he said was ever taken seriously by his brothers. Most of the time it wasn't meant to, but…what would happen if their lives depended on it? They hadn't listened to him before on things that were right….what would happen if they didn't believe him about something that would really threaten their lives? "Oh yes, Mikey, sure there's a monster behind us. Stop joking around and paying attention!"
It was his fault, for cultivating the jokester attitude. But he'd only done it for his brothers. He had tuned up his natural bright nature, turned everything into a joke, so that they'd survive life sane and able to smile.
But…at what cost had his brother's sanity come at? Was his own self and sanity the price to be paid for the well-being of his brothers? Would he always have to continue hiding behind a smile, just to keep them happy?
Sometimes, Michelangelo wished that he wasn't so generous, that he had loved his brothers a little less. He wanted to be himself, and not some clown, unable to take anything seriously.
But he wanted his brothers happy too. And if he didn't joke around constantly, they would soon lose themselves to their own problems.
Mikey buried his face in his hands and sighed deeply.
It was going to be another long night with no answers again, he could tell.
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The brooding turtle remained completely unaware of a pair of eyes hiding nearby in the greenery, watching him with speculation and amusement.
Tonight's hunting for prizes to bring to his master would be good.
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