[EDIT: As of the 1st of september 2014 this story has been checked for grammatical errors and typos. A HUGE thanks to n00bTMNTfan for the help!]
Author's Note: In this story, we get to explore a side of Mikey that isn't just the adorable jokester and party dude we all know. The story should still have the same humor and feeling as the show with only a slightly darker touch. And don't worry, you'll definitely recognize Mikey. I hope you'll all enjoy it! ^-^
(Also, I had my sister test reading this. She wanted me to warn sensitive readers that the ending of this chapter "could" be a bit of a tearjerker. But I'll let you be the judge of that. ^^)
"No, go right! Go right!" Donnie coached, without taking his eyes off the hovering object. "And then down a little bit-"
"Chillax, bro. I've got this," Mikey replied, with a reassuring hand gesture. "Just sit back and enjoy the ride."
Mikey pressed a button on the remote control and made the small hot air balloon move forward, cruising through the air in the lair. The balloon was made out of a bunch of different pieces of cloth sewn together, everything from handkerchiefs to underwear, whilst the motor looked suspiciously like a hair dryer with a propeller attached.
"Now, remember that there is some delay when moving backwards, so if he lashes out, it's better to use left or right in order to avoid-"
"Dude, stop with the backseat flying already. I've got mean finger skills. I'm telling you, it's like I was born to fly this thing."
"You didn't even have fingers when you were born. None of us did," Donnie pointed out.
"Tell you what," Mikey said, with his eyes still fixed on the toy. "If I trash this thing, which isn't gonna happen because I'm steering this baby awesomely, I'll give you the rest of my extra special pizza with jelly beans, shrimps, sardines, mushrooms and fudge topping."
"When did we have that for dinner?" Donnie asked in confusion.
"A couple of months ago. I've saved a few slices for a special occasion…"
"That's the smell that's been coming from your room?!" Donnie asked in shock.
"Yeah…" Mikey said with a blissful expression. "That's what's so great about pizza. After a while, you don't have to eat it to taste it. And heeere we go."
The mini blimp had located its target: Raph. The older turtle was currently too immersed in a game of pinball to notice the airborne company and was determined to beat Leo's long standing high score. The blimp closed in on him and a small barrel emerged from the hair dryer.
"Ok, now!" Donnie whispered to Mikey, with an amused smile.
A tiny pea shot out from the barrel, hitting Raph hard in the neck. Raph instinctively slapped the spot, as if he'd just been bitten by a mosquito, which made him lose focus and miss the ball. Raph cursed and turned around. This time he noticed the mini blimp.
"Oh, how cute. A little stray invention," Raph said, in annoyance. "Did Donnie the Trash-master make ya?"
Mikey grinned and pressed the button several times in a row. The blimp started firing peas crazily at every part of Raph's face, forcing him to cover it with his hand.
"You wanna fight? Is that it?" Raph yelled in anger and brought out his sai and charged at the blimp. "Here! I'll pop you like a zit!"
"Wow... I honestly didn't think he would lose it this quickly," Donnie said in surprise. "Looks to me like someone could use some extra meditation sessions with master Splinter- Whoa! Watch out!"
Raph slashed at the blimp, which narrowly avoided the assault. It sped up and fled the scene, going higher up to avoid Raph's attacks. Raph immediately pursued the toy with murderous intent. He threw a shuriken at the balloon, missing it just slightly thanks to a maneuver by Mikey. Raph growled and jumped after the flying machine, which went higher and higher up to escape. Raph was too busy looking up at the target to notice that he was getting closer to the pool of sewer water. So when the blimp made a sudden left turn, Raph followed it without realizing that the floor ended underneath his feet. Raph landed in the water with a loud splash as the blimp victoriously returned home to its owner.
"Boo-yeah! Safe and sound, and not on the ground!" Mikey laughed and gave Donnie a high five. "Man, I wish I could have seen Raph's face when he landed in the water."
"… Why hasn't he turned up yet?" Donnie asked, still watching the place where Raph fell in.
The two brothers ran over to take a closer look. Mikey cautiously leaned over the edge, searching for any kind of life in the deep water, but there wasn't any. Donnie then noticed a shadow reflecting on the water surface, and the sound of dripping water made him turn around. Raph was standing right behind them both, soaking wet and with a grim look on his face.
"… That's not the face I wanted to see," Mikey said with a terrified look at his older brother.
"Great fun, guys. Great fun," Raph said with a twisted smile. "But now, let's play one of my games instead… I know a good one called 'Raph will break your bones 'til you scream for mercy'. You start screaming, and I'll be Raph..."
"Wait, wait! Stop," Donnie said in protest. "We were not just tormenting you; we were testing my spy-blimp."
"First roaches with video cameras, and now balloons made out of underwear?" Raph asked, in annoyance. "Great! Hey, I can help. I'll show you how to turn someone into a spy-gimp!"
"I'm serious," Donnie continued. "I thought we could use something that can check out enemy areas unnoticed before we go in there ourselves. You know, as a safety precaution. It has audio and visual and even a built in radar system that detects any fast moving object within ten feet, like throwing stars or other flying projectiles, so that it can avoid them. Pretty cool, huh?"
Raph glared at Donnie with murder eyes, making Donnie back a few steps while scratching his neck.
"So, no hard feelings then?" Donnie asked. "I mean, the pea gun is harmless. Well, fairly harmless. I guess it's technically possible to impair someone's vision in a freak accident, but it was just all in good fun. And we needed an enemy to test it on, so you seemed like the perfect candidate to-"
Raph brought out his Sai and pierced the wall behind Donnie with such force that it crumbled a little.
"Mikey was steering." Donnie stated, and pointed at his little brother.
"What?!" Mikey yelled in disbelief. "You traitor! You liar! You- AAAH! No! Raph! Mercy! MERCY!"
Raph darted after Mikey with his weapons drawn, while Mikey tried his best to get as far away from him as possible.
Leo was sitting on the couch watching TV, while doing his best to filter out the chaos that surrounded him. But he couldn't filter out a panicking Mikey who leaped down onto the couch in an attempt to hide behind his older brother. Raph went after him, his weapons still drawn. Leo quickly got up on his feet and used his katana to clash with Raph, stopping him temporarily.
"Back off, Leo!" Raph growled, and tried to push him out of the way. "I'm just gonna cut him up a little!"
"You're not cutting up anyone, and especially not on the couch!" Leo told him. "Or were you planning on shopping for a new one?"
Raph glared at him, but then took a step back and Leo lowered his sword. Raph threw Mikey an angry glance before putting his weapons back in his belt, and returned to the pinball machine. Leo exhaled in relief and sat down on the couch again. Mikey crawled up next to him and stared at Leo in awe.
"Leo… you saved me!" Mikey exclaimed, and aimed for a hug. "Aww, my hero! I knew you'd come through for me, bro!"
"Just doing my job," Leo stated indifferently, and pushed Mikey off the couch.
Mikey landed on the floor, but quickly jumped up again with a disapproving look at Leo. He turned his back on him and spotted Donnie on the other side of the room.
"Hey, Don! Can we try the spy blimp again?" Mikey asked eagerly. "I bet you that I can steer it right between master Splinter's ears without him even noticing."
"In a minute," Donnie answered, as he was fiddling with the wires in the remote control. "I'm just gonna make a few modifications to the main controls, and-"
Donnie was interrupted by a poke on his shoulder. When he turned around, Raph was standing behind him. His face was completely deadpan as he handed over the rest of the balloon. It was neatly shredded in tiny pieces, and was dangling from his sai like a dead snake. Donnie hesitantly picked it up with the look of someone who's dealing with a psychopath. Raph didn't even blink, and then left his brother alone with the broken toy.
"Actually, it's gonna be more than just a few extra modifications," Donnie said, with a glance at the mess of wires and plastic.
"And how long will that take?" Mikey asked.
"Honestly? It might be quicker to build a new one." Donnie answered.
Mikey's gleeful face changed into a sulky one as he sat down on the couch with his arms crossed. He glanced at Leo, who was completely focused on the show. Mikey looked down at the remote control next to Leo and grinned in delight. He sneaked closer to the spot without Leo noticing, and then, quick as cobra, snatched the remote and jumped away from the spot.
"Mikey!" Leo yelled, and turned towards him. "Give that back!"
"Why? I'm just holding it," Mikey said teasingly, and pointed the remote control at the TV screen while holding one finger just above the channel button.
"If you touch one button on that thing, I will... " Leo started threateningly, but then hesitated. "...be more responsible and grown up than Raph, and not chase you around the lair."
Mikey looked at Leo and blinked. "I'm not following you."
"Just hand it back, Mikey!"
"Nuh uh! It wouldn't be a game of tag if I just handed it back to you. You have to catch me first. Those are the rules."
"Or, I could ignore your childish act and simply change back manually whenever you try to change the channel," Leo replied, calmly and sat down in the couch again.
Mikey looked annoyed and then started pressing the button repeatedly. Several channels flashed by at extreme speed, making it impossible to distinguish anything but a sea of colors. And it was incredibly annoying. Leo sighed and left the couch with a frustrated glare at Mikey.
"Still want me to back off?" Raph asked curiously from the pinball machine.
Leo looked from Raph to Mikey, and then back to Raph. "Knock yourself out," Leo stated calmly and sat down again.
"What-HEY!" Mikey yelled and looked at Raph who cracked his neck and grinned menacingly at him before charging towards Mikey. Mikey screamed and jumped over the couch in order to get away. "This is unfair! I don't even have a weapon! THIS IS SO NOT FAIR!"
"Stop running and I promise that I won't hurt you!" Raph screamed back, following him closely.
"LIAR!" Mikey yelled, still holding on to the remote control and jumped up on his skateboard.
With Mikey suddenly on his skateboard, Raph had more trouble keeping up with him. Mikey soon noticed his unexpected advantage and started to laugh nervously as he sped up. He made a lot of sudden turns to confuse Raph and almost lured him down in the water again.
"Hey! THAT is unfair! No skateboarding in the lair!" Raph yelled at Mikey and made a leap for him, but missed just barely.
"Good! Then we're even!" Mikey panted with a smile, but realized too late that he forgot to watch where he was going. The reminder came in the form of a solid pinball machine in Mikey's way, causing him to crash right into it with a nasty crack. A small noise from the machine told the player that he just lost a ball.
Leo and Donnie looked up at the noise and immediately went to check on Mikey. Mikey was lying on the ground beside the machine and was moving slightly. It seemed like the impact had temporarily dazed him. This however didn't stop Raph from landing heavily on Mikey and wrap an arm around his throat while pointing a sai to it.
"Tag, you're 'it,'" Raph said ruthlessly, and kept a strangling grip around Mikey's throat.
"Are you guys okay?" Leo asked, accompanied by Donnie.
"We're fine," Raph said in annoyance. His arm was still around Mikey, who was making noises that sounded far from fine.
"Raph, get off of him!" Leo yelled at Raph, as he and Donnie quickly started pulling the two turtles apart.
"What?" Raph said and tried to shake them off. "So now you're on his side again? Why don't you make up your mind!"
"You don't strangle someone for taking a stupid remote! I shouldn't have to tell you that!" Leo said in annoyance.
"Fine! Have it your way!" Raph said, and finally let go of Mikey. Donnie helped their little brother up on his feet and gave him a pat on the back. Mikey coughed a few times, but other than that, he seemed to be alright. "I just don't get why the two of you have to fuss over him all the time! You're treating him like a baby when he really deserves a punch in the face."
"Because he IS our baby brother," Leo replied, in irritation. "And yours too. You can't beat him up for every annoying thing he does."
"Like accidentally trashing the TV-remote…?" Mikey asked with a nervous smile, and held up the remote. The two batteries were sticking out and a big chunk of plastic was missing.
Leo picked it up and gave the remote a tired look before handing it to Donnie. "Don, do you think you can fix this?"
"Let me see," Donnie said, and turned the object over in his hand. He brought it closer to his eye and studied it carefully before sighing and handing it back to Leo. "There's nothing I can do."
Raph gave Mikey a glare and was just about to slap him over the head, but was interrupted by Donnie, who stepped between them.
"Because there's nothing to fix!" Donnie told them, in irritation. "It's just the lid to the battery hatch that has come off! Anyone with two brain cells and a roll of tape can fix it! Seriously, guys. I'm not asking you to read books about quantum physics. All I ask is that you read a book!"
"Oh… That's great!" Leo said with an awkward smile. "Thanks… Donnie."
"Still, it's always Mikey who messes things up around here," Raph continued, with an agitated look. "He's the only one who trashes stuff, makes my life a misery, and turns this place upside down just because he's bored! And I'm tired of you guys protecting him all the time."
"We are not protecting him all the time," Leo told Raph sternly. "But sometimes, you're the one who seriously needs to work on your patience."
"Leo's got a point, you know," Donnie agreed. "I mean, Mikey might be the one who causes all the trouble around here, but you're usually the one bringing all the destruction. It's like the two of you put together becomes an unstoppable force of chaos. … And that's what turns this place upside down."
"Oh, of course! So in the end, everything is my fault!" Raph retorted. "Big surprise!"
"… I don't think that's what I said," Donnie said with a frown.
"Come on, dude… Where's that brotherly love?" Mikey smiled and sneaked up beside Raph and wrapped his arms around him in a heartwarming hug. "I'll share my next pizza with you. Will that make you feel better, bro?"
"Be someone else's brother for a change," Raph said in frustration, and pushed Mikey away. "I'm out of here."
"Well… Maybe I want a new brother!" Mikey told him, in annoyance. "A better brother! Who doesn't try to cut my throat every single day! Actually… I got TWO who doesn't do that!"
Raph slammed the door to his room without a word, and Leo patted Mikey's shoulder.
"Let him sulk for a while," Leo stated. "When he's in that mood, nothing anyone says is gonna make him feel better. He'll be back to his old, loud, mean self again in an hour or so."
"But speaking of pizza…" Donnie said with a hand on his stomach. "Am I the only one here who's starving?"
"You mean like anchovies, pepperoni, with extra cheese-starving…?" Mikey asked in a much more cheerful voice. "Because I know just the cure-"
Mikey picked up his t-phone, but then hesitated with a confused look. "… Actually, I don't," Mikey said. "Do you guys have the number to that new pizza place we found last week?"
"Donnie, you make the order," Leo said, and tossed the phone to Donnie. "Mikey, you get the pizza. Maybe the smell will lure the grump out of his room and cheer him up a little. A Raph with food in his stomach is usually the one I prefer to be around anyway…"
The pizza guy stopped his scooter and stared in confusion. He picked up a notepad and checked the address again. According to it, this was the right place. However, the apartment of the address looked suspiciously abandoned. Not to mention that the whole building looked like it was about to be demolished. There was even a ready bulldozer parked beside it.
He got off his vehicle and picked up a steaming box from the back. He then walked up to the door and was just about to knock when he noticed an envelope pinned to the door. The text on the front said "To Pizza Dude".
He frowned but opened it anyway. Inside it were some money and a note:
Hi Pizza Guy
Here Is Money
Leave Pizza Here
Don't Look Back
Your Job Is Awesome By The Way
"Um… Thanks?" The pizza guy said with a semi-smile and put down the pizza on the doorstep, but kept the note and the money. He sat up on his scooter and looked back at the apartment, only to discover that the pizza box was gone. He boggled his eyes and looked around everywhere, but didn't see a soul that could have taken it. After a minute, he just shook his head and drove off.
On the rooftop above sat Mikey. He glanced down at the deliverer while inhaling the fumes of the pizza with a blissful smile.
"Haaah…" Mikey sighed and jumped over to the next roof.
As Mikey skillfully leaped from building to building, he couldn't help but throwing longing looks at the box he was carrying. The warmth of the box was melting his heart and the scent of the deliciousness made him drool…
Mikey never had very good self-discipline. He suddenly stopped in his tracks and sat down with the box. He opened it in anticipation and stared at the glistening cheese and pepperoni inside.
"… Okay, Michelangelo. Just one slice," Mikey told himself, and picked up a piece. "You can't concentrate with an empty stomach. Even Splinter says so. … Or, I bet he has. At some point. I should ask Leo."
Mikey licked his lips and was just about to take a bite of the slice when he heard a noise from below the building. Mikey listened closely. It sounded like a couple of people laughing. But Mikey didn't like the sound of their laughter… Not one bit.
Mikey left the pizza and sneaked up to the edge of the roof and looked down at the guys below him. It took a moment before he realized what was going on, and his eyes widened in horror at the scene. He wished that he hadn't looked.
Leo was standing in the middle of the dojo. His katanas were lying on the floor beside him, and he was wearing a blindfold. Donnie was standing a few feet behind him, leaning against his staff.
"Is this really necessary?" Donnie asked with a sigh. "If you want to spend your free time training, that's fine. But I don't get why your training has to include me."
"Because I can't attack myself now, can I?" Leo said, and took on a fighting pose. "This is good training for both of us. Try to come at me with your staff, and I'll try to block it."
"Let me get this straight. This is really what you want to do for the next ten minutes?" Donnie asked in disbelief.
"For the last time; yes," Leo sighed. "So let's go. I'm not even armed, just go for it."
"Sure. It's not like I have better things to do than beating up unarmed blind people…" Donnie said and shook his head, but then used his staff to attack Leo's left side.
Leo blocked the attack easily by grabbing the staff and then used the force against Donnie, throwing him across the room. Donnie hit the floor hard with a painful thud.
"Good, keep that up," Leo said encouragingly, and assumed another fighting pose.
"… I'd rather keep working on the spy blimp," Donnie muttered as he got up.
Suddenly, Raph walked inside the dojo. Bored by the solitude in his room, he had decided to check out what the commotion was about. When he saw the two turtles training, a smile suddenly spread across his face and he walked over to Donnie.
"Come on, Don. Just attack me already," Leo told him impatiently. "I'll try to go easy on you."
Donnie was just about to give it another try when Raph stopped him by putting a hand on the stick. Donnie looked at him in confusion, but then smiled in realization. He handed over the bō staff to Raph who took it with a gleaming grin.
"I can hear you thinking, Donnie," Leo sighed and scratched his neck. "It doesn't matter what strategy you come up with. This exercise is about enhancing your other senses and trusting your instincts, it's not like chess or-"
Raph swung the staff at Leo with such speed that he didn't have time to duck. The staff hit him in the back of his head so hard that Leo almost lost his balance.
"Okay, you caught me off guard. I'll give you that." Leo frowned in surprise, but immediately resumed his fighting position. "But it won't happen again. Just come at me like if it was a real battle-"
Raph took the invitation and immediately attacked Leo from behind. This time, the staff hit his shell. Leo winced and tried to locate Raph's position, but it was difficult since Raph was running around Leo in a big circle. He kept attacking Leo viciously whenever he could, forcing Leo to block blow after blow.
"Donnie, what are you doing?" Leo asked in annoyance, and barely managed to avoid a blow to the head.
"Nothing," Donnie said, with an honest smile.
"Oh yeah? For being nothing it sure feels like a lot of something," Leo said, as he blocked another attack and gritted his teeth in pain. "Ow! Seriously, it's almost like fighting Raph!"
"Can't argue with that," Donnie agreed, and picked a naginata from the wall of weapons.
Soon, both Raph and Donnie were running around Leo, attacking him at the same time. Leo could only block half of the attacks, and was growing more and more confused over how Donnie could hit him from so many directions.
"How did you- ow! When did- hey! How are you doing this!" Leo said, as he tried to listen where the enemy was in order to anticipate the attacks. "This isn't- You're not- What the heck- RAPH!"
Leo rapidly picked up his katanas and slashed at the incoming blow, cutting both the naginata and the bō staff in half. He tore off the blindfold and glared at Raph who was grinning in amusement as he tossed the broken weapon aside.
"What?" Raph said, with a shrug. "You said 'real battle'. Real battles have surprises. And besides, we're usually outnumbered."
"And just like in real life, you somehow manage to undermine my training even though you weren't even part of it," Leo stated.
"Happy to do it," Raph said, and gave Leo a pat on the shoulder.
"I wonder what's taking Mikey so long. It has almost been half an hour," Donnie said, and picked up the broken weapons in order to dispose them. "He's usually not so easily distracted when carrying food."
"I'm not surprised," Raph said grumpily at the mention of Mikey, and left the dojo. "He probably ate that pizza on his way here and now he doesn't dare to show his face."
"You're being unfair, Raph," Leo said, and followed him out of the dojo. "Our first thought shouldn't be that he has messed up, our first concern should be that something might have happened."
"Especially considering the sudden increase of mutagen canisters all over the city that's totally not our fault," Donnie said sarcastically, and tossed the pieces in a cardboard box filled with broken weapons. "He could have been eaten by a giant, slimy, mutated snail for all we know."
"It's so sad that you'd rather think that Mikey got eaten by a mutated snail than that Mikey ate all the pizza," Raph told Donnie. "Like, really sad."
"I don't think that 'sad' applies to this scenario at all," Donnie disagreed.
"Enough," Leo interrupted. "We give him two more minutes, and then we'll go look for him. And I mean all of us. Raph, you okay with that?"
"Sure," Raph said disapprovingly, and walked over to the couch.
"Great," Leo said. He ran up behind Raph and swiped his legs, making him crash to the floor. "… Because that gives me two minutes to kick your butt for messing with me."
Raph rolled over on his back and jumped up on his feet with a malicious grin. "Oh, you're so on!" He said and leaped at Leo, dragging him down on the floor with him.
"While the two of you are beating each other senseless, I'm going to the lab," Donnie informed his brothers before he left. "I'll call for you when two minutes are up. Not that you're gonna hear it anyway…"
While Leo and Raph were throwing punches and trying to kick each other in the guts, there was a voice echoing through the sewer tunnels. However, none of the turtles were able to hear it. The echoing voice was getting closer and started to sound more and more similar to Mikey's.
"Wait, did you hear that?" Leo asked Raph, as he freed himself from his brother's grip.
"Hah! Nice try, Leo," Raph replied, and pinned him to the floor again. But then he hesitated as he could clearly hear Mikey's voice calling something down the tunnel.
Leo and Raph gave each other one look and then quickly left the spot to check what was going on. They had barely reached the turnstiles when Mikey suddenly appeared around a corner and rushed past them without giving them as much as a look.
"DONNIE!" Mikey yelled and looked around in panic. "Donnie! Where are you?! DON!"
"Geez… Stop screaming! Thanks a lot, Mikey. Now I'm starving AND deaf!" Raph yelled back, but then noticed that Mikey was carrying a shoe box in his arms. "… And unless they've changed the shape of the pizzas, I'm guessing that's not our dinner."
"Mikey, are you okay-" Leo began.
"Where's Donnie?" Mikey panted, holding the box in a tight grip.
"In his lab, but- Mikey!" Leo shouted as Mikey darted towards the lab. "Hang on a second! What's going on?!"
Mikey didn't answer and ran inside the lab, almost crashing right into Donnie, who had left to check on the noise. Donnie grabbed Mikey's shoulders to keep him from tripping and looked at him in surprise.
"Whoa, Mikey! What's wrong?" Donnie asked.
"You gotta help! Come on, move your shell!" Mikey said, and grabbed his brother's hand in order to drag him back inside the lab. "HURRY!"
"Yes, yes, of course," Donnie said, as he followed Mikey back inside the lab. "But… Hey, take it easy. Help with what? Are you hurt?"
Both Leo and Raph looked at each other at the last question and ran after them. Mikey let go of Donnie's hand and stopped at the examining table to put down the shoe box.
"He's in a really bad shape, bro," Mikey explained. "There was blood, and stuff, and thugs and… and then I ran here, and... You have to do something!"
"Alright, alright. Just calm down, Mikey. Let me have a look," Donnie answered and opened the box.
In the shoe box on an old dirty t-shirt, lay a kitten. The fur was gray with dark stripes and it was lying outstretched on the improvised mattress with its eyes closed. Based on the size, it couldn't be more than two months old and there were small spots of blood around its mouth. It wasn't moving.
"Oh, Mikey…" Donnie said sadly.
"Don't just stand there, do something!" Mikey said with a desperate look at the kitten. "Can you fix him? You can fix him right? Come on, bro. I know you can-"
"No, Mikey- I can't!" Donnie said in distress. "This isn't like a broken TV remote, I'm not a doctor. I'm not even close to a veterinarian…! I don't even know where to start!"
"You have to! You're the smart one!" Mikey said with a pleading look. "Please, Donnie. There's no one else who can."
Donnie closed his eyes tightly in anguish, but then looked at Mikey. He took a deep breath and carefully picked up the kitten. He turned it over carefully and brought it over to a desk lamp to examine it closer. Mikey looked over his shoulder, watching his brother's every move.
"You can do it, Donnie…" Mikey whispered in his ear. "I believe in you, bro…"
"Not the time for pep talk, Mikey," Donnie said, and reached for a magnifying tool.
"Don, is there anything we can do to help?" Leo offered.
"Yes. Step outside or be quiet," Donnie said without looking up. "This kitten isn't exactly the size of a mutated turtle… I'm gonna need to concentrate."
"O-kay…" Leo said carefully in a low voice. He put a hand on Mikey's shoulder and ushered him to move back a few steps with him and Raph.
Donnie brought the lamp closer to the kitten and gently opened one of its eyes. His face turned serious and he pushed back the lamp. He then took the kitten's paw and moved the leg forth and back, watching the movement closely. Donnie laid the kitten down in his hand and carefully prodded its body, seemingly looking for something. He ended the examination by putting two fingers on the kitten's chest. Donnie sighed and carefully put the small ball of fur back in the box.
"Mikey, I'm…" Donnie hesitated, his shoulders slumped.
"Is he gonna make it?" Mikey asked with his eyes wide in anticipation.
"Mikey, I'm so sorry," Donnie said with a sad look at his brother.
Mikey stared at Donnie without moving a muscle, as if Donnie's words had been in another language and he tried to figure out what he meant by them. Mikey then walked up to the box and looked down at the kitten.
"Is he dead?" Mikey asked with a blank expression.
"Yes," Donnie answered.
"So, he's not gonna wake up?"
"No."
"But... Can't you make him better?" Mikey asked, and glanced at Donnie.
"I can't. I really can't-" Donnie tried to explain.
"Why not?!" Mikey asked, with an upset look at Donnie. "You're the smartest guy I know! Can't you make something that will help, or invent a-"
"Mikey, please stop," Donnie said, with a pleading look.
"But this shouldn't have happened!" Mikey told him. "I ran here the fastest I could!"
"The injuries were fatal. It wouldn't have mattered how fast you ran," Donnie explained.
"But it shouldn't have-"
"Mikey…! It's too late," Donnie said. He put his hands on Mikey's shoulders, his eyes filled with sorrow. "There's nothing anyone can do, or could have done. It was probably too late already when you picked him up-"
"He mewed..." Mikey interrupted, and looked at the kitten in the box. "He mewed when I picked him up. He wasn't dead when I found him."
"I don't know what to say…" Donnie said, with a dejected look. "I wish I could do something, I really do. But I can't. I'm sorry…"
Mikey kept staring down at the kitten. He then put the lid back and picked up the box and left the lab without as much as a word.
"Mikey. This isn't your fault. Wait, Mikey…! It wasn't your-" Donnie called out, but his little brother had already left.
Leo and Raph watched Mikey disappear, and then turned to Donnie. He gave his brothers an incredibly dejected look and turned off the desk lamp.
"He's not gonna be fine," Donnie said. "Just so you know."
"I think you're right," Leo said with a nod and left. "I'll go talk to him."
Raph stayed behind and walked up to Donnie, unsure what to say. "How did he find that kitten anyway?" Raph said, mostly for the sake of talking.
"I don't know," Donnie sighed tiredly.
"I mean, he was supposed to get pizza," Raph continued. "Who manages to come home with a cat and a shoe box instead?"
Donnie didn't answer this time, and just gave Raph a drained look. Raph scratched his neck and glanced a bit awkwardly at his brother.
"How did it die, by the way?" Raph asked.
"Based on the injuries, I think I have a pretty good idea how," Donnie said bitterly and walked over to the remaining pieces of the spy blimp.
"Oh yeah? Tell me," Raph said and leaned against the table.
"You're not gonna like it," Donnie stated.
"Probably. I don't like a lot of things," Raph said indifferently. "Tell me."
"Well… Based on the examination, there wasn't one bone left in that cat's body that wasn't broken. Including the neck…" Donnie explained and looked at Raph. "Someone killed that cat. And I think that Mikey saw the whole thing."
Next Chapter: I think we all want to know how Mikey is going to deal with this. But how will his brothers deal with Mikey? And if you thought that this chapter lacked Splinters and Aprils, you'll be happy to know that chapter 2 will be much richer in that regard.
Author's Note: If you enjoyed this chapter, please tell me! I won't know if anyone is reading this unless you do. And by all means, please leave a comment even if you didn't like it and tell me why it sucked! As long as it helps me improve myself, I encourage any kind of critique. :)