Kassondra37 – 100th watcher reward.

Mikey gets lost in NYC.

Mikey sat in his room, quickly losing interest in his comic books. He threw the comic on his bed and shifted uneasily on the floor. He was no longer comfortable. In fact, he was restless. He stood up and paced around the room, hoping to think of something he could do. Unfortunately, there was no such luck. He ventured out of his dwelling to locate any of his siblings. He walked into the dojo, expecting to find Leo. He was surprised when he saw Raph training in there.

"Hey, Raph, need a sparring partner?" Mikey asked, ready to pull out his nunchucks.

Raph stopped training and wiped some sweat off his forehead. He panted as he answered, "Not today, Mikey. I'm doing some solo training. Maybe another time." And with that, he turned his attention back to the punching bags.

Mikey frowned, but quickly remembered he had two other brothers to ask. He left the dojo and ran to Donnie's lab, where he was sure his genius brother was working. He knocked before entering, as were Donnie's instructions. Far too often his family entered without any warning, causing him to drop his current project; which, as Mikey learned the hard way, can sometimes burn a hole in the floor.

Donnie was hard at work on his latest and greatest invention…the T-Phone v.2.0. Mikey wasn't sure how it was different from v.1.0, but it had a sophisticated name, so it must be cool. "Donnie. Need any help?" Mikey asked, trying to sneak a peek at the new phone.

"Thanks, but no. This is a one-turtle job, Mikey. And quite frankly I can't risk you screwing anything up." Yeah, Donnie was still mad about the hole in the floor. Mikey said he was sorry. What more did Donnie want?

"Oh, Okay. I understand." Mikey smiled, hiding his sadness that his brother didn't want him around. He ventured off to find Leo. He walked into the living room and saw Leo laying on the floor, legs kicking in the air like a love-struck teenage girl. "Hey, Leo. What are you doing?" Mikey asked, crouching beside his brother.

"Shhhhh! I'm watching Space Heroes. This is the best part." Leo smiled at the TV resting his head on his fists.

"Oh, can I watch with you?" Mikey asked in a chipper voice, though he never really liked the space themed show.

"I'd rather you didn't. You'll just make too much noise." Leo admitted, not even giving Mikey a sorrowful glance.

"Oh." Mikey whispered. He didn't say another word as he walked off to the kitchen. He leaned against the table and checked the time. It was almost 9:00 at night. It was getting late. And that's when Mikey saw the turnstiles. He looked at them, so unused and available. He figured that at some point in time they never stopped turning, and now they only turn on occasion. Mikey thought it was unfair. The turnstiles weren't living up their full potential. He crept out of the kitchen and behind Leo, who was far too indulged in his TV show to notice anything else. He walked through the turnstile and out into the open subway tracks.

But the tracks weren't where Mikey wanted to be. He wanted to be up there. Up on the surface. There wasn't much for him to look at underground. Just some rocks and dirt, and tracks. But the surface had so much more. There were buildings and street signs and bill boards. The adventures were endless. Mikey made his way to the closest manhole and crept outside of it. He knew the rules. No hanging out on the sidewalks. The first opportunity he got, he hoped up a fire escape and made his way to the rooftops, where no one would really see him. He realized that running on rooftops was not much fun without his brothers to show him off. Then he figured, if he found higher buildings, he would have more fun. That is how it works, right? Fun and height are directly proportional.

Mikey approached the taller skyscrapers of New York City. His heart beat increases and he started sweating. Must have been the adrenaline, because he was anything but nervous. He stopped for a moment to admire the city's skyline. Stepping up onto the ledge of a building at least 18 stories off the ground, he looked up at the few stars he could see because of the intense city lights and to the moon glowing brightly over the city. He admired the glow over the water in the distance. The gleam the moon made on all the windows surrounding the skyscrapers. It was so magical. Why didn't he sneak out more often? While on patrol with his brothers he never went up this high. He never got a chance to stop and admire his surroundings as he would surely get separated from them. He inhaled and exhaled deeply, finally understanding all that stuff Master Splinter said about being at peace with the mind.

He stepped down off the ledge and ran on to the larger buildings. The ones that touch the sky. The ones Leo would never let them hang out on. He had never felt freer in his life. The feel of the high pressure air against his face was unlike anything he had ever felt before. He had never imagined it was so much fun to explore. It was like he was seeing New York City for the first time again. Only this time, he got a better view.

When he reached the highest building, the adrenaline was wearing down in his body. He laid down on the rooftop to relax and catch his breath. He looked up at the moon and wondered about all the other excitement he had been missing out on. He counted the stars, as many as the bright city lights would reveal, and made a wish on each one. What was that silly rhyme kids say when they wish on stars… "Star light, star bright. First star I see tonight. I wish I may. I wish I might have the wish I wish tonight." Or something along those lines. Mikey repeated the rhyme for every star he saw, ignoring that it only worked on the first star. He wished he could get the same adrenaline high he received that night every day. He never wanted the excitement to end.

Mikey lost track of time as he wished in the stars, not even realizing it was long after midnight when he finally went to return home. As he made his back through the turnstiles, he was met by the endearing hugs of his older brothers. Along with their disappointed facial expressions.

"Michelangelo. Where the shell were you?" Leo asked, setting his hands on his hips in an impatient manner. Leo used his full name, meaning Mikey was in serious trouble.

"Relax, Leo. I went topside for a little bit." Mikey pushed through his brothers and down the stairs entering the living room.

"A little bit. Mikey, we've been looking for you for more than two hours!" Donnie shouted alarmed.

"You went topside? By yourself?" Leo sounded angry, "You shouldn't go up there alone!"

"Well, none of you wanted to be with me. I had to do something, I was dying of boredom." Mikey over exaggerated as he usually did.

The brothers looked at each other, recalling how each of them had shunned him earlier that night. They felt bad that they had hurt his feelings and made him put himself in danger. They all sighed in synchronization and put on hand on Mikey. "We're sorry we were such jerks to you earlier." Leo smiled apologetically.

"It's okay. I had a great time by myself." Mikey smiled ear to ear. He didn't want to go into more detail about how he broke the majority of Leo's rules.

"We were worried sick about ya. Thought you flushed yourself down the toilet or something stupid like that." Raph smiled at his little brother.

Mikey thought for a moment, and made a point about it by putting on a ridiculous thinking face, "But Raph, if I flush myself down the toilet, I'll just end up right back here."

The brothers all laughed. "alright, it's late. We don't want to wake Master Splinter. Let's get to bed." Leo instructed, wrapping his arm around Mikey in a brotherly manner. "Just, don't let it happen again."