The turtle always enjoyed sleep. Well, dreams, more specifically. He always loved seeing what creative things his mind could come up with once it settled down for the night.
It was something he enjoyed more than comic books or video games, some way he could forget about his life for just a tiny bit of time until he had to wake up for practice.
He could lose himself in his dreams, like watching a movie. And the best part was - he was the star!
So when Michealangelo settles in for the night's rest, he didn't know what was awaiting him in dream land.
It was past bedtime, his brothers had all gone to bed. Except maybe Donatello, who knew what the genius was up to?
Before heading to the upper floors of the lair, Mikey had been playing his new game for hours. To the point he was being teased endlessly by his brothers, but whatever. They just didn't know awesome when it stared them in the face!
The turtle smiled to himself. That game was fun, he'd definitely beat it tomorrow. But until then he'd rather enjoy the gift that sleep brought him.
He snuggled into his blanket and let the quietness of his room wash over him.
He was in a dimly lit room. The orange clad turtle couldn't figure out where, but then a light turned on. Oh, it was his bedroom? Comic books were on the floor in stacks, as he'd been reorganizing them. Again.
His bed was empty, obviously. He was standing in the doorway, looking at his room.
Looking down at himself, he was wearing normal human clothes. Baggy pants, a white tank top with a dark blue sweater, a baggy hat to cover his mask.
"Why am I dressed like this?" He wondered allowed.
Then the dream version of Leonardo, sporting similar garb, came from his own room. "Mikey, did you forget? We're going to the mall with April to pick up those comic books you've been bugging me about for weeks."
"Really?" Mikey spotted Raph exit his room, along with Donnie. Each wore similar clothing.
"Yeah, goofball." Don confirmed. "Then Silver Sentry invited us to lunch with the Justice Force."
"COOL!" Mikey called out.
It was at that moment he realized he was dreaming, because he saw Clunk. Well.. what he thought was Clunk.
A little boy, about four or five maybe? He couldn't tell. The boy stood next to Donnie, peeking out from behind the turtle's pants. He had little cat ears and a muzzle, wearing an orange sweatshirt and dark pants. His hair was orange, with darker bits almost like highlights accenting the messy curls.
"Clunk?" The turtle asked.
"Hi Mikey!" The little kid spoke, in a voice that sounded almost like Clunk's meow.
Mikey wasn't sure whether to be excited or not that Clunk could speak, but at least now he realized he was dreaming.
"Okay, well, lets go."
The five of them - Mikey picking up the little boy version of Clunk - raced to the elevator leading out of the lair and into the streets.
"April's meeting us at the ice cream shop a few blocks over." Leo explained as they waited for the elevator to take them above ground.
"Can we get Ice Cream?" Mikey asked, hearing his stomach rumble.
"Yeah!" Raph shouted. "I love some ice cream."
Very different from the Raph he was familiar with. Definitely a dream.
Following his brothers, Mikey wondered how this dream would turn out.
Mikey and his brothers were at the ice cream shop. Raph was in particular getting super messy over a bowl of ice cream, while Don and Leo stared at the turtle in subsequent disbelief.
"Raph, when did you like ice cream so much?" Don commented.
"Since trying this new flavor last week." The hothead explained, licking the last of the ice cream from his bowl.
Mikey scooped another spoonful of his own cup and smiled. But then he heard the faintest buzzing and a fly landed on the table between himself and Raph, lapping up the extra ice cream his brother had spilled everywhere.
"Get away you pesky little—" Raph dropped his spoon into the bowl and started trying to squish the fly with his hands, as it seemed to dodge expertly. "I hate bugs."
Suddenly, as if on cue, the fly started to grow. Raph backed away in horror as the rest of his brothers and April all stood up, staring at the growing mass of grossness.
The fly became a grotesque giant mutated mess, with an extended snout thing - what were they called again? Mikey wondered absently - and it's wings almost like a dragons.
People started to scream and run away.
"Why couldn't you just have died when I tried smacking ya?" Raph told the fly.
The fly reacted by sprouting an additional head and grabbing the turtle in its legs, which had grown claws.
The turtle struggled and reached for his sais as his brothers unsheathed their own weapons.
"Is this my nightmare or Raph's?" Mikey wondered out loud as he swung his nunchucks towards the fly. "Can't you just go away and eat the Shredder or something?"
The fly just stared at him with its heady eyes and dropped Raph, turning to face his younger brother.
"Oh shell." The orange clad turtle cried out as he watched the fly ascend on him in horror.
Thanks for reading o/ Let me know if you want more from this story! It was just a random idea I had the other day and I figured I'd give it a shot. Based loosely on the TMNT 2003 series. Hope you enjoyed!