"Your skills are impressive… but they will not save you" An armored man said, jumping down so he was just a few metres away from the turtles. Mikey whimpered slightly, ducking behind Donnie, and Raph and Leo stepped in front of their younger siblings.

"D-do you think… that's the Shredder?" Donnie gulping, taking Mikey's hand and squezing it slightly, taking his bo-staff with his other hand. Both Raph and Leo did the same, grabbing their katana's and sais. Donnie could feel Mikey gribbing his hand tighter, definitely scared out of his shell.

"Well it's definitely a shredder" Raph said, narrowing his eyes but he didn't charge in yet, watching the movements of their new opponent. And unlike the enemies they have encountered before, the Shredder wasn't surprised seeing four giant turtles and just walked up to them.

"There is undoubtingly a fascinating story in how my old nemesis came to teach ninjistu to four mutant turtles. Perhaps I shall let one of you live long enough to tell it" Shredder said and roared, charging in on the four mutants.

Raph growled and charged in too, meeting half-way. Raph extended his sais, ready to stab the Shredder but his attack was easily deflected. Shredder growled, loonking into Raph's green eyes. Raph gulped slightly and before he knew he was flying through the air.

There was a chocked scream and then a loud bang, shell slamming into something solid. "Raph!" Leo screamed as loud as he could, watching as his little brother got electrocuted and screaming in pain, until he hit the ground with a loud thud, not moving.

"Donnie, stay with Mikey!" Leo yelled before he charged in too, leaving Donnie and Mikey alone. Leo let out an own battle cried as he tried to land an attack on the Shredder, but within second Shredder managed to punch him into his plastron.

Leo grunted when his side came into contact with the ground, wrapping his arms around his hurting plastron before a hard kick send him backwards. Where he kept, laying motionless.

"Leo!" Donnie yelled out, untangling his hand from Mikey's hand. "Stay here!" Donnie yelled before running towards his unconscious brother. He placed a hand on Leo's shoulder, vowing himself to stay calm but he wasn't, his two brothers were unconscious and the Shredder was approaching him.

He gribbed his bo-staff even tighter, narrowing his eyes. He would protect his brothers no matter what, or die trying. And with that he charged in on the Shredder, trying to hit him with his staff. But even the first attack was deflected. Shredder grabbed his weapon, using it to jab Donnie himself and knocking him down.

Donnie's eyes were wide open, looking at the blades in Shredder's gauntlet, ready to strike. But was interrupted when a familiar voice screamed through the air. Donnie cringed slightly.

"Keep away from him!" Mikey yelled and threw his chain, wanting it to wrap around Shredder's gauntlet but he missed miserably. Mikey's eyes widened as Shredder began to ran towards him instead. Before Mikey could even react he felt a strong hand wrap around his throat.

"Pathetic" Shredder growled as he began to squeze Mikey's throat. Fear began to built in his stomach but he quickly flipped out the blade hidden in his weapon, jabbing it right into the exposed flesh of the Shredder. The shredder roared in pain, not expecting the blow from the unexperienced turtle and angrily threw him away.

The throw was hard enough to sent him over the edge, but Mikey quickly grabbed the edge. Mikey gulped as he looked down, the streets far below him. Above him he could hear Leo and Donnie fighting again, but still no Raph, which meant he was still on the place he was electrocuted.

Figuring he couldn't do much in the fight he began to climb towards the place where Raph was, using the small edge he could stand on, he slowly began to walk around the building, making sure the Shredder wasn't noticing him.

He could hear the painful grunts of his older brother as he began to climb towards the top. He quickly jumped on top of the platfrom, seeing Raph flat on his plastron, his eyes closed. The scent of burning flesh was heavy and Mikey winced slightly.

"Raph?" He whispered, placing a hand on Raph's shell. A low grunt came from beneath him. He carefully grabbed both sides of Raph's shell, turning him around. Raph coughed slightly, slowly blinking his eyes and looking over to Mikey.

"I'm okay" Raph grunted as he lifted himself up, supported by Mikey. "Listen kid, this guy's dangerous, go home, we'll be okay" Raph grunted as he stood up, rotating his sore muscles and checking himself for any obvious injuries, but apart from the shock he didn't have any serious ones.

"But Raph…" Mikey began, wanting to protest. He couldn't just leave his family behind, but before he could finish his sentence Raph gripped his shoulders, narrowing his eyes.

"We will be okay, go home and wait for us there" He said and turned around, grabbing his sais. "Got it?" He questioned as he looked down, ready to jump down. And before Mikey could answer him he jumped down with a loud yell, right on top of the Shredder, who was now hovering over Leo and Donnie, ready to kill them.

Mikey wanted to turn around, just run away like Raph asked him but he couldn't. The grunts coming from the fight below was too much. Raph was already injured, electrocuted, there was no way he could win from the Shredder, not when they couldn't even win from him with the four of them.

And within seconds he stood on the edge and threw his chain again. Raph was on the ground too, staring wide-eyed at the blade approaching him but before it could hit him a long chain wrapped around the gauntlet, this time with success.

"Mikey get outta here!" Raph screamed as loud as he could but it was no use. Shredder whipped his head around, staring at the orange banded turtle. A small smile appearing on his face. Mikey's eyes were white and narrowed with determination.

The Shredder snickered, wanting to pull the young turtle off the platform but his movements were slow, not expecting much of a fight from the unexperienced turtle. Mikey jumped down, using his weight to pull the Shredder up.

Mikey flicked out the blade in his weapon, putting it under a pipe, so it was secured. He dropped himself, dropping onto his feet hastily. He grinned slightly and looked up but the smile was quickly replaced with the fear.

An icy scream erupted from his throat as he saw a piece of the giant sign coming towards him, and before he could do anything it landed on him, slamming him down. Shredder snorted, jumping down.

"No.." Raph whispered as he sprinted towards the sign, Leo and Donnie behind him. "Don't do this bro" Raph pleaded as they could just lift the sign. His head was pounding painfully, sweat trickling down his forehead as he stared wide-eyed at the sign, he had to be okay, he had to be safe.

Raph gritted his teeth, looking over to the Shredder. Sparkles were falling down on his armor, and he was just standing there, staring down at them, like they weren't even worth the fight. Raph's head snapped back to the sign when a slow grunt came underneath it.

Slowly a green figure scrambled underneath the sign, wincing slightly but he froze when he looked up, directly looking into Shredder's eyes. Raph immediately released the sign, stepping in front of Mikey, while Donnie and Leo did the same.

There was a strong silence, wind rushing next to them as they all held their weapons, even Mikey. Bruises were all over their body, cuts and blood covering their body. Their plastrons and shells full of scratches and dirt.

Eyes narrowed with determination. And then Shredder jumped towards them. It all seemed to go in slow motion. They jumped in too, fighting for their lives but they were easily defeated. Punches landed on their bodies, and they could merely protest, exhausted and injured.

Leo, Raph and Don were all on the ground, too injured to fight back. Mikey drew his weapons, but he knew it was in vain. His brothers weren't even skilled enough to defeat the Shredder, and the only time he managed to land a blow on the Shredder was by surprise.

One hand was twirling the nun-chuck, how Splinter had taught him while the other one was holding his chest, his ribs burning. A yelp escaped his throat when Shredder grabbed him with ease, throwing him against the wall.

Mikey grunted slightly when his sore shell connected with the wall. Shredder raised his gauntlet and Mikey closed his eyes, waiting for the blow. Wind rushing past the blades and then it connected with the wall.

But the pain never came, he never felt the blade entering his throat. Confused he opened his eyes, only to see Shredder's gauntlet on both sides of him, around his neck so he was unable to escape. His left hand pressing on his shoulder.

"I knew you were weak" Shredder growled, narrowing his eyes again. A blade came out of the gauntlet, slowly approaching Mikey's throat. "Tell me where Splinter is, and I promise you your demise will be swift"

Mikey's eyes widened again, staring at the blade, almost touching his neck. He was afraid, terrified even but he wasn't going to betray his brothers, no matter what. The blade neared, and was now lightly nicking his neck, it wasn't enough to break his skin but it wasn't a nice feeling.

Suddenly a chocked breath came from behind the Shredder. Mikey gasped as Shredder whipped around, looking towards the source of the sound. Mikey immediately scrambled back, wincing because of his sore body and was immediately helped to his feet by his brothers.

On the ground, covered in mutagen were 2 mutants. Some kind of giant dog and a giant fish. The green ooze seemed to be covering them everywhere, and it was clear they were in obvious pain from the mutagen.

"H-Help… m-me" The fish chocked, extending his shaky hand. And that's when realization hit him, it was Xever, and the dog must be Bradford. Mikey slowly scrambled backwards, his brothers doing the same, they had to flee now.

"What is this?! Xever, Bradford!" Shredder exclaimed and whipped his head around, only to stare in space, the turtles nowhere to be seen. "NOOOO!" He roared but before he could do anything, they had slipped into the sewers already, injured and defeated.

TMNT

The mood was horrible, nobody said anything. Silence covering the living room. Raph was sitting on the couch, leaning with his shell against the edge. His skin was dirty, filled with bruises and cuts. Dried blood all over his skin.

Leo was sitting on the ground, holding his arm up for April, as she carefully cleaned the wound. Leo would occasionally cringe and yelp at the stinging sensation but apart from that he was silent, and just like Raph, and frankly the rest of his brothers, he was covered with cuts and dried blood.

His arm had been sliced by the Shredder, it wasn't deep but April had to clean it, before infection could set in. Donnie was sitting cross-legged on the couch, behind Mikey and carefully pressing his sides, trying to determine if anything was broken.

Occasional hisses came from the young turtle as Donnie continuously stabbed his side but Donnie didn't stop, he had to make sure Mikey hadn't broken any of his ribs when that sign landed right on top of him. His shell may have protected him from getting totally crushed, but it couldn't protect him from everything.

"You were all very lucky" Splinter sighed as he pressed his two fingers on top of Raph's plastron, he too feeling if something had been broken during the battle against the Shredder. And just like Mikey he would occasionally hiss, but he was mostly trying to cover it up.

"Well I think we define that word differently sensei" Raph grunted and hissed, as Splinter jabbed his sore plastron again. Splinter sighed and stood up, none of his ribs were broken but it would be clear his plastron would be very sore for the following days.

"Few have ever faced the Shredder and survived" Splinter said slowly, walking over to his oldest son, who was biting his lip as April was slowly cleaning the cut from the dried blood, opening the wound in return.

"He was just so fast" Donnie mumbled as he began to wrap Mikey's chest. His ribs weren't broken, just badly bruised so Donnie would wrap them just to be sure. So they would heal properly and wasn't risking further damage.

"It was like he was everywhere at once" Donnie added as he secured the bandages around Mikey's chest so they wouldn't fall off that easily before he went to the smaller cuts and bruises on his body.

"You were right, about his being over confident" Leo said as April pierced his skin with the needle. Starting to stitch the slash in his arm. "There are things we're just not ready for" Leo sighed and bowed his head in shame.

"Perhaps, but that no longer matters" Splinter started. Leo looked up slowly, and so did the rest. "It is clear that the Shredder is a problem that will not go away, so prepare yourselves my sons, because as of this moment, we are at war"

Everyone bowed their heads at the comment. Somehow they already knew it wasn't over, not even close, but actually hearing it scared them a lot. Slowly Splinter stood up, patting Leo's shoulder and turning to the rest.

"I will be mediating on this matter, you should all rest for now, it is late already" He announced, slowly walking away. They all watched as their sensei disappeared, leaving them alone. April sighed and continued stitching Leo's arm.

"Mikey" Leo whispered. Quickly Mikey glanced over to Leo, but kept his head low. "You okay? you have been quiet ever since we got home" Leo asked, quickly glancing over to his own arm too just as April began to wrap it up with bandages.

"You guys got hurt because of me" Mikey whispered after a short silence. Mikey gulped as he felt 4 pairs of eyes watching over him. But just as before he kept his head low, just focusing on Donnie checking over his injuries.

"It's true, you guys had to protect me and… " He stopped mid-sentence, not really knowing how to continue himself. Mikey sighed slightly and glanced over to Donnie, wrapping up one of his worst cuts, but too shallow to be stitched.

They all weren't deadly injured, but it was worse than they had ever had. Worse than the time Donnie was beaten up by that lab monkey, or the time they came home from their battle with Xever and Bradford, when they had kidnapped that blind guy.

"Mikey, ya know we would've gotten hurt anyways" Raph growled, crossing his arms over his chest and wincing slightly when he put pressure on it, but he quickly concealed it. "And if you didn't bring all that stuff, the whole city would be mutated now, you did good tonight" Raph added with a slight grin.

Mikey slowly lifted his head, revealing his baby blue eyes, filled with tears, but they weren't spilling yet. "B-but you had to save me countless times, I was just a burden today" Mikey stuttered slightly, not being able to speak properly, too ashamed of what happened.

"Now yer just being ridiculous. That guy was crazy good, there was no way we could've won" Raph exclaimed. "Besides, ya saved our asses too" Raph added.

"Yeah, which resulted in me being burrowed under that giant sign" Mikey huffed, gesturing to his busted ribs, and shivered slightly, still remembering the sign approaching him until he was completely covered with darkness.

"That wasn't really pretty, no." Leo cut in, chuckling slightly. Mikey looked towards Leo, and despite his mood, chuckled slightly. "But you still saved us, and it doesn't matter how much we had to save you, because that's what brothers do remember?" Leo added.

"Thanks guys, that means a lot to me" Mikey whispered, as his eyes began to water again. Leo sighed slightly as he scrambled to his feet and walking over to Mikey, wrapping his arms around Mikey. Donnie chuckled and did the same, taking his two brothers into a hug.

"So are you going to join us or not?" Leo grinned, looking over to Raph and April. A small smile appeared on April's face, walking over to the group hug too but Raph hesitated for a bit. Mikey peeked up slightly, looking over to Raph with his giant blue eyes.

"Alright, just don't gimme those eyes knucklehead" Raph exclaimed as he walked over to Mikey too, awkwardly sitting near them but within seconds Leo took him into the hug, pressing him towards the middle so he was totally surrounded by his brothers, Mikey next to him.

"I love you all guys" Mikey sighed, closing his eyes for a bit.

TMNT

"Well, I'm going to sleep guys, don't stay up to late" Leo announced, standing up from the couch, being careful not to jostle his injured arm. His body was still extremely sore but it wasn't as bad as before. April was already sleeping but the four turtles were still in the living room, watching TV, all huddled together.

"Me too" Donnie said, yawning slightly and standing up too. "Get some rest you two" Donnie said towards Raph and Mikey before walking behind Leo to their rooms. Raph chuckled and dropped his head.

Mikey was laying on top of him, using Raph's legs as a pillow and his eyes closed, but clearly not asleep as he was humming slightly. His chest was wrapped in white bandages but they didn't seem to bother him but Raph knew that was because he wasn't moving too much.

"I'm going too knucklehead, ya coming?" Raph asked, facing his little brother. Slowly Mikey opened his eyes, staring right into Raph's eyes. Slowly he scrambled up, wincing because of his ribs but he managed to get into a sitting position.

"In a minute" Mikey said as Raph already stood up, yawning just like Donnie had done minutes ago. "I have to do something first." Mikey said, glancing over to the dojo. Raph shrugged slightly, patting Mikey's shoulder.

"Don't make it too late, being hurt doesn't mean ya can skip meditation" Raph grinned as he walked past Mikey, leaving him alone. Mikey chuckled slightly and walked off to, but instead going to his room, he walked towards the dojo.

The dojo was dark, apart from the faint light that was in it, and he wasn't lying when he said the dark scared him slightly, but he pushed it away. He stopped for a second in front of Splinter's room, taking a deep breath.

"Sensei?" Mikey whispered as he opened the room, taking a look inside. The lights were all on, indicating he was still awake. And just as expected he was sitting in the middle of the room, in the mediation stance and facing Mikey.

"Come in my son" Splinter said as he opened his eyes. Mikey gulped slightly and took a few steps inside, walking over to his sensei. "What is it you want to tell me Michelangelo?" Splinter asked, gesturing for Mikey to sit.

Mikey felt a shiver going up his spine, even after 2 weeks he still found it creepy how Splinter, his 'father', seemed to know everything. Whenever he was lying or wanting to say something, was troubled or just something going on.

"Do your ribs hurt?" Splinter asked, raising a single eyebrow. Mikey looked up and shook his head, his ribs weren't hurting, not anymore. He frowned slightly, he actually had no idea what he came for himself.

"I just want to…" He stopped for a moment, what did he want? He gulped slightly but Splinter was patient, waiting for his youngest son to say something. "I just want to thank you, for everything" Mikey said after a while.

"You took me in without hesitation, treated me like your real son and gave me a family I never had" Mikey explained, rubbing the back of his neck slightly. "And you trained me and I never really thanked you and all" Mikey said, slightly awkward.

"Michelangelo, I did all of that because I see you like that" Splinter said, Mikey frowned slightly, looking up to his sensei. "It doesn't matter if I met you 2 weeks ago, I have waited for you all these years, and meeting you was one of the best moments in my life" He said.

"From the moment Leonardo informed me of you, and the moment I saw you I already thought of you as my son, and you don't have to thank me for that" Splinter finished, a small smile was lingering on Mikey lips, tears again lingering in his eyes as he shot forwards, wrapping his arms around his father's waist.

He smiled through the tears, burrowing his face into his fur. Splinter's face softened and he wrapped his arms around his youngest son, feeling the texture of his son's shell, it was smaller than the shells of his other three sons, but yet so familiar.

"Thank you, father" Mikey whispered in his fur, tears still leaking down but a smile lingering on his face. Splinter felt a smile finding its way over his face too. The words of his son warming his heart. He had noticed Michelangelo's withdrawn attitude the last weeks towards him.

And hearing his youngest son acknowledging him as his father for the first time in his life, made him the most happiest man, or rat, in the world.

"I love you too my son" Splinter said through his own tears, tightening his grip on his son, allowing him to cry in his fur. His lost son was finally home with him. And finally, after 15 years their family was complete.

So this is officially the end of the story, for everyone who followed it, and reviewed it, thank you so much!

I'm kinda sad this is over, because I really loved writing it, and I thought this was the right moment to stop it, and to be honest, I kinda lost inspiration too, but I like the ending ^^

Anyways, thanks for reviewing and all! You mean the world to me!

Thanks!