"Do ya reaallly see me?" Mikey asked me a second time with a cheeky grin in my arms, "I could be an imposter, ooo wat's dat?" He pointed to an old picnic table which looked like it had not been used in years, made sense since we were really far out in the forest.

"Donnie would have loved to inspect it and see what type of wood it was made of or figure out how old it was...Mikey do you remember what happened that got you separated from us?" I asked, the question had bugged me since the beginning.

"I saw Pizza butterfly! I wanted Donnie to get it...but I chased it too far...you mad?" he asked quietly, hiding his face in my shirt. I knew he was crying a bit because I started to feel wet.

"Not at all, just worried is all...I thought a bear kidnapped you and made you his own teddy bear!" I exclaimed dramatically causing him to laugh.

"No bear got me!" Mikey said then gasped suddenly, with eyes wide he looked up at me seriously as he's ever been and said, "Wat if da bear got Donnie? And waphie, an weo?! Wat are we gonna do?!"

If the situation had been different I would have laughed but the possibilities... "We are going to find them, think of it as hide and seek, just do not leave my side. Alright?"

Nodding, my little brother snuggled against me trying to get comfortable again. Around me the leaves rustled, as if telling me to keep going, follow the wind. Looking up, the clouds were even closer than before...will I find everyone in time?

Ah, the wind stopped and there were two paths in the forest we could take: the left had a river next to it but up ahead were thicker, older woods. The right led somewhere behind us, like a U-turn on the road.

Which one should I take...? 'woooooo' whistled the wind as it went though the middle of the two paths where piles of acorns, pine-cones, different types of leafs and seeds were all in a neat, orderly row.

Nature cannot do that alone but who would take the time or interest in such things...? "Donatello? Are you here? Or is it you Leonardo?" I asked in a loud voice, waking Mikey from his light slumber. "Donnie? Weo? Ya here?!" He yelled excitedly, in response, a groan of pain rose from one of the piles.

"Mikey, start looking inside the acorn pile but beware of hungry squirrels! I will look in the other piles since they are more dangerous." I said already digging into the pine-cones.

"I fownd him! He has owie!" cried my littlest brother, running over to them I felt a bit anger and a trickle of confusion over what I saw.

Donnie had cuts, scratches, and bruises already forming on his body, not life threatening but from the looks of it, intentional, from another life form. Someone pounded my younger brother and knowing Donnie, he could not have done anything to provoke them!

"Don? Donatello, are you awake?! Come on, we have to leave this part of the forest, the people who did this will be back soon, so come on!" I said urgently while pulling him out of the acorns.

"Yer wrong though, we never left." a voice said above me, looking up I saw two older boys on a crusty tree branch. How had I not noticed them before? But another question was burning inside me.

"Why did you do this to my brother?! He did nothing wrong!" I growled.

"He did wrong that boy, he went and made these troublesome piles of crud on our territory without permission! So we decided to jump'im." said boy A with a straw hat, both jumping down to the ground in front of me.

"Now yer and pipsqueak over there are next!" snarled boy B.

Thinking fast with a plan I said, "Mikey, disappear and do not show yourself unless I say so! No matter what happens, got it?" When he did not respond, I knew he was safe and somehow, he took Don with him. 'Good.' I thought grabbing some pine-cones and acorns which made great ammo to throw.

"Eat this!" I yelled as boy A tried to trip me, stuffing his face with the natural items.

"Naw, you eat it!" boy B shouted in my ear, before twisting my arm and pinning me down into the pine-cone pile with ease. 'Great, this is starting to hurt!' I thought, thinking about what Master Splinter has taught me so far.

All of a sudden I remembered something for this kind of problem! Flipping onto my back, I kneed them where it hurts a dude the most!

"OWWW! YER A WIMP BOY!" shouted boy B as he went to his knees and rolled around pathetically. Grinning a little, I started to wonder where the other one was at. When I turned around, I was met with an angry fist in my face, and it actually hurt! It was not a Raphael punch but still!

Focusing to clear my mind enough to react, he kicked me in the stomach, uppercut me directly under my chin, knocked my knees out from under me and pulled my head up to his just so he could tell me, "Ya messed wit dah wrong cousins! When I am through wit ya, yer brothers are next, even the smallest one who threw stuff at me!"

I felt my face pale, he is going to hurt Michelangelo? He saw my face and sneered, "Yea, Imma pound dem. BAD."

Once my brain processed those words, Adrenaline, rage, and strength filled my body as I started to shout,

"YOU WILL NOT TOUCH THEM! NOT WHILE I STILL BREATHE!"

Throwing him to his back I started to punch him furiously, feeling how his face started to bleed, Boy B from behind tackled me off and bit my shoulder extremely hard, enough to break the skin. So I poked his eyes, which caused him to let go enough to push him off me.

Getting to my feet, I got into a fighting stance ready for either or both to attack. Sure I was hurting, but it is better for me to feel pain than my little brothers.

"We leavin! Yer crazy boy! Run cuz, run!" Boy A screeched, pulling his cousin with him as they quickly left the area. I stood there for a few minutes listening to see if they were coming back for revenge in an ambush or something.

After a while there was no sound, nothing, just the tweeting birds flying away from lightning a few miles ahead. 'Good...Mikey and Don are safe now.' I thought relieved, falling to my knees to rest a bit, the fight took more out of me than I expected.

"Can I come out now?" whined a sweet voice from the leaf pile.

"Mikey! You said not to say anything!" complained the other voice in the nut pile.

I smiled, giving them the all clear to come out only to be tackled by Mikey. 'Ow ow ow!' I winced slightly as he hugged me really hard. Don came out of hiding too, but slower and more cautious than his younger brother.

"Donnie how are you feeling? Did those brutes hurt you?" I asked, trying not to show I was in pain.

"I was more surprised than anything, I was so busy observing the wildlife I didn't hear them sneak up behind me. They didn't inflict that much damage, just a one hit K.O. You on the other hand look terrible, it's a good thing I brought the first aid kit!" Don exclaimed, digging though his purple backpack which was packed to the brim.