*Everyone has their own opinions, but if yours are mean, my ego is fragile. Just saying.*

Disclaimer: I only own TMNT in my dreams. Nothing's mine.

Mikey's P.O.V

"Donnie, c'mon...please!" "No," Don repeated for like...the 9 hundredth time. "Why not?" I groaned, pulling at his arm. "Because Master Splinter said no one leaves the lair, not after what happened last night." I felt myself get defensive, how was I supposed to know the sewer was gonna be filled with construction workers? I'm not psychic!

"Donnie..." I whined, "it was an accident. I didn't know those dudes were gonna be there at the same time I went for a skate run!" Don rolled his eyes, "your missing the point." He twirled a screw driver in his left hand, "Sensei told us to stay put. He doesn't care if it was your fault or not, he just cares that you almost got seen."

"But I didn't," I reminded him, "so can't we just forget it and move on?" "Tell that to Sensei," Don said. "It's your funeral," "aw...but...what if Master Splinter never finds out?" Don snapped his gaze to me, broken toaster on the table already forgotten. "Mikey..." he said in a warning tone. "We'll sneak out," I sent him my best puppy dog face, oh yeah, Don would be powerless against that.

"That face won't work,"...shell.

"Raph does it all the time," I pointed out. Don dropped the screw driver, "yeah, and then he gets in major trouble for it. Sensei makes him clean the whole entire dojo, and Leo chew his shell off. Do you want to face that?" I felt a shiver run up my spine, damn, an angry Leo? No thank you. But...when I weighed the risks, against my ever-growing boredom...yeah...I was so willing to take the verbal abuse.

God preserve me though, a normal Leo was scary enough. "We won't get caught," I pleaded, clasping my hands together. "We're not Raph, we won't come back at four am. Please Donnie? I promise I'll stay out of your lab for the next week if you say yes." Don's eyes grew to the size of golf balls, "deal." He said quickly, discarding his lab coat.

"But I'm holding you to that." I nodded giddily, practically jumping up and down with excitement. "Yes, yes, yes! Woo! Now let's go!" Don grabbed my arm firmly, "slow your roll there shell for brains. We gotta make sure no one catches us sneaking out first," I shrugged his hand off. "Dude please, I'm a ninja, remember? I got this," I stuck my head around the lab's doorjamb, peering into the empty lair.

"All clear," I said to Don, tip-toeing to the lair door.

"Master Splinter and Leo are probably meditating, and Raph's probably in the dojo, so try not to close the door too loudly." Don sent me a warning look, face serious.

"Hey, no problem," I grinned, holding the door open for him. As we left, I made extra sure to close it extra slowly, like he'd said.

"Alright! Let's bounce, turtles away!" Donnie shushed me, again, "quiet! We're standing right outside the door! And Sensei's hearing is ridiculous, you wanna scream Mikey? Wait 'till we're topside." I sent him a thumbs-up, "will do Dr. Donnie."

He scowled, and started walking, "shut up. Now, follow me. If I'm remembering right, the manhole closest to the alley is...here. Alright, come up after I give you the signal, understand?" Don started climbing the latter, "yup, will do." I sent him my best reassuring smile, he didn't seem too comforted by it though.

I watched in anticipation as he removed the grate, checked both ways, and flashed me a 'go' sign. I climbed up after him, and let out a loud cry the second Don closed the manhole behind us. "Mikey," Donnie hissed. "Wait 'till we're on a rooftop, cars might be passing." I sighed melodramatically, I didn't want to wait more.

"But you said I could scream the second we made it topside!" He started heading for the nearest balcony in the alleyway, "well now I'm saying wait a little longer." Don did a flip onto the balcony's edge, "the last thing we need is for you to be spotted again." I crossed my arms, "it wasn't my fault!"

"Did I say it was?"

"Everyone else is!"

Donnie didn't answer, instead, he just huffed, and extended a hand out towards me. I was very tempted to tell him to shove it back up his shell, or spit on it.

"Get your shell moving," he griped as I latched onto his hand. Pulling me up to the edge of the balcony, we both did a half-flip onto the roof's ledge above us, flawlessly, might I add.

"Now can I scream?" I asked Donnie as we started running, "sure." He replied, speeding up his pace a little. "But make sure I'm out of earshot first, I don't wanna hear your chicken scream."

I frowned, pouting my lips. How dare he insult me? That was a serious offence! Off with his head! "I don't scream like a chicken! Shut up!" Too late, he was already out of earshot. Puffing out my chest, taking this as a direct challenge, I let a scream go.

I didn't sound like a chicken, it was high-pitched, sure, but nothing sounding even remotely like a bird. Ooh Donnie, you were gonna pay for that. Charge! I sped up my pace as well, until I was right behind him, never stopping my screaming. He didn't like it? Well then, he was gonna hear it up close and personal. That'll teach him to insult me! Me, of all people!

"Mikey! Stop it! That's irritating!"

That's exactly why I'm doing it, Donnie.

I was about to jump onto his shoulders, when the worst thing in the world happened, my cell rang.

Damn it, I forgot to leave it at home. Aw shell. Screeching to a stop, and closing my mouth, I pulled the cell out of my pocket. Don had come to a stop too, and was now leaning over me. "Who is it?" He asked, out of breath from running. I was out of breath too, from running, and screaming. Okay, last time I ever do that again, it felt like my lungs were going to collapse.

"Shell, Raph." I saw the number flash across the screen, and I looked up at Donnie for instructions.

"Should I answer?"

Don looked at me like I was stupid, "no way! Are you insane? He'll know something's up right away! You know you suck at lying, especially to Raph!"

Well...yeah, I wasn't the best liar, and Raph just had a way of making me spill my guts. Probably cause he was so scary, and he had this tendency of hitting people if they didn't answer him truthfully the first time. Man, we were in trouble.

"Okay...so I won't answer," I was about to put the phone away, when Donnie snatched my hand.

"That's an even worse idea! Knowing Raph, he'll go check up on us if we don't answer, and when he sees we're not in our rooms, he'll tell Sensei. We're caught either way! Just...just answer it, and if you see you can't handle lying to him, pass the phone to me. Shell, we're so doomed."

Ugh...I don't feel like having to clean the dojo! Why did Raph have to be so freakin' nosy?

Sighing, I answered the call, and did my best to act casual. At least I wasn't face to face with him, the only thing worse then having to talk to Raph, was having to make eye contact with him.

"Hey Raphie!" I felt sweat begin to run down my forehead, looking at Donnie out of the corner of my eye, I saw him chewing on his skin. Jeez, that was reassuring.

"Mikey, where are ya?"

I swallowed a hiccup, racking my brain for an answer that wouldn't screw us.

"Just hanging out with Donnie," I said vaguely, trying to keep the fear out of my voice.

"I asked where," oh shell, he already sounded irritated. Perfect, great job Mikey.

"Oh...we're just...down by the old sewer plant. Don's setting up some new security thingy down there to monitor the place, and I was bored, so I followed him." Donnie sent me a thumbs-up at the lie, and I felt a little bit of relief creep into my chest. If Donnie thought I was doing fine, then I was doing fine.

"Sensei told us ta not leave the lair," Raph pointed out.

I froze, almost puking right there and then. Crap, why did Raph have to have this affect on me? Lying to Leo would've been easier!

"I know, but Donnie said that after the...uh...incident last night, he wanted to monitor the whole sewer system, so that next time I wanted to go skateboarding, he'd know if anyone were around the sewer to see me."

Raph was quiet for a long time, and I almost lost it. Almost started crying like a baby right there and then, yeah, I was pathetic, what was I gonna do? But before I could start unraveling, Raph let out a tired sigh.

"Whateva, just get back here soon, kay? Leo's gonna throw a hissy fit if he finds out ya left without tellin' him."

I sent out a silent prayer to whoever was listening, "okay. No problem dude, we'll be back in ten."

"Before ya go, I wanna talk ta Don."

Crap...so close, I turned to Donnie stiffly, and motioned for him to take the phone. His gaze went between me and the phone, and then back again, like he was having trouble processing. I stuck the cell in his hands, and mouthed the words, 'he wants to talk to you' to him. His face broke out into an expression of panic, well, nice to know I wasn't the only one terrified of Raph.

"Hey Raph," Don spoke after a couple of beats. "How goes it?"

I heard a chuckle on the other end of the line, "fine. Just wanted ta make sure Mikey wasn't bluffin' about bein' with ya. Don't need him runnin' around the sewer by himself again."

Donnie forced a small laugh, "yeah...wouldn't that be terrible. Um...so...listen, I gotta go...complete the installation of the new monitors, we'll...uh...see you once it's done."

I heard Raph yell at somebody in the background, something incoherent and not that nice.

"You talking to Leo?" Don asked.

"Yup. Fearless is watchin' another one of his stupid shows again. Kill me now. Anyway, I'll see ya soon. Lemme just tell Leo you're fine, before he blows up at me. But don' hang up just yet, he'll probably wanna talk to ya."

Donnie's face blanched, so did mine. Why, why God...why did you have to do this to us?

"Alright," Don answered. "I'll pass you Mikey, he'll talk to Leo...I've got a system to finish installing." As the phone went silent, I slapped Don on the shoulder.

"Throw me under the metaphorical bus why don't you?" Donnie shrugged, "better you than me. Besides, it's Leo, your not scared of him too, are you?" I chocked on my own spit, "no." I replied indignantly, "I'm not scared of anyone." Donnie handed me the phone, "yeah you are. And Raph's at the top of the list." I stuck my tongue out at him, "oh shut up."

"Mikey? Who are you telling to shut up?" Shell Leo, you've got the worst timing.

"Oh...just Donnie, he's geek-speaking me to death." Don sent me a glare at that, hey, don't pass me the phone if you don't want me making jokes about you Donnie.

"I bet he is," Leo laughed. "So, Raph told me you guys are setting up more security near the sewer plant?"

I chuckled nervously, my heart hammering in my chest. Curse my inability to lie well under pressure.

"Yeah...Don thought it was a good idea-"

I heard a whistle on Leo's end of the line, followed by a loud crash. Probably Raph, throwing the remote at the T.V, then pretending to be innocent.

"RAPH!"

Yup, I was right.

"Shell Raph, it took me forever to download those to the VCR."

There was an awkward silence on his end of the line, "I don't care if you don't like them you hot-headed idiot! I had to beg Master Splinter to let me use his DVD space to-RAPH! STOP IT RIGHT NOW! OW! OH...THAT'S IT!"

There was a loud bang, followed by a scream. I looked at Donnie, and he shrugged carelessly. Well, Leo and Raph were fighting again, shocker.

Hanging up the call, and putting my phone away, I let out a deep breath I hadn't known I'd been holding. "Well, we got away with that one."

Donnie nodded, "yeah, barely. C'mon, we've got ten minutes of freedom before they'll be expecting us back...race you?" I felt my signature goofy grin make it's way to my face, oh, it's so on Donnie.

"Already running dude," I gave him a hard shove, sending him back a couple of feet, before taking off. I made it to the next rooftop before he did, laughing the whole way.

"Mikey!" He cried, sprinting to catch up.

I was still ahead of him by the time I made it to the next rooftop, meaning, I saw the giant horde of Foot ninjas before he did.

Skidding to a stop, my grin disappeared. Shell, we really did have the absolute worst luck in the world.

Donnie crashed into my back a second later, not knowing why I'd stopped. "Mikey, what's the hold-" he stopped talking when he saw what I was looking at. "Aw...shell," he groaned, getting his bo staff out. I reached for my nun chucks, but stopped short when I realised I didn't have them on me.

"Shell...Donnie, I forgot my chucks back at the lair." Don's jaw dropped, "you idiot! Why would you go anywhere without them? Why didn't you grab them before we left?"

I grimaced, okay, insults weren't very helpful Don. "I'm sorry, I just forgot."

Don took a protective step in front of me, guarding me with his staff. "Alright, then I'll hold them off, you, find a weapon. A cracked bottle, a piece of pipe, whatever. I can't do this alone," "you couldn't do it even if your freak brothers were here with you." Oh no...Razhar.

The giant wolf-man stepped in front of all the other Foot ninjas. Taking a position at the very front of the pack, well, this was going South really fast...crap...where was a piece glass when I needed one?

"What're you doing here Razhar?" Don growled, "the full moon isn't for another three weeks." Razhar growled loudly, gritting his abnormally sharp teeth, muscles tightening, like he was readying himself to pounce.

"Uh...Don," I tapped him on the shoulder. "I don't think instigating the unstable, lunatic wolf-man, with a pack of Foot drones behind him, when I don't have a weapon, and when we're all by ourselves, is the best thing to do."

Donnie arched his back, trying to look back at me while still keeping a visual on the bad guys standing in front of us.

"I'm sorry! I'm under a lot of pressure over here." He whispered to me, "and when I'm under pressure, I trash talk." "Then develop a different nervous tick," I replied, and he glowered at me.

Don't glower at me Donnie, glower at the tall as shell, crazy nut job in front of us.

"Stop talking," Razhar hissed, "I've had enough of talking. Foot, attack!" And cue all shell breaking loose, okay, I've gotta find a weapon.

Donnie blocked any oncoming attacks aimed for me, but I could already tell fighting for two was taking a lot out of him, and the fight has only just begun. Alright Mikey, think, there's probably something you could use to defend yourself in the alley below you, yeah...perfect, just gotta get away from these drones trying to take my head off first.

Doing a flip over two incoming guys, I shoved them both off the ledge of the building, before jumping off of the ledge myself. Okay...weapon...weapon...aha! I picked up a rusted piece of pipe from a nearby dumpster down in the alley below the rooftop where we'd gotten ambushed. It wasn't ideal, but it would help.

Hopping back onto the roof, I saw Donnie was completely overwhelmed. Oh no you don't, I whacked the nearest Foot ninja next to him with the pipe. No way are you lunatics getting a hit on my big brother, especially you, drone with the really wandering hands.

I smashed a few more of their heads in, and the fight was just starting to get enjoyable, when I felt a sharp claw poke the back of my neck. Crap...Razhar...I'd forgotten about you...shell, why are you always picking on me? "Turn around, freak." I did as he said, staring him right in his ugly mug of a face.

"Who're you calling a freak, with that hideous muzzle of yours?" His nostrils flared, and he furiously swiped a hand at me, which I swiftly dodged, three points to me.

"That the best you got doggie?"

"Shut it!" He roared, leaping at me in a flurry of bared teeth and claws. Oh snap, I made him mad, whoops.

Back flipping out of the way, Razhar went hurtling over the roof's edge, barely catching himself before he fell. Alright, this wasn't that bad, I could so keep this up. All I had to do was continue dodging his attacks, maybe land a hit here and there, and I'd be fine-OH SHELL.

I barely managed to twist out of the way in time to avoid getting my head chopped off, dang Razhar, where'd you get that machete? Oh wait...no...those were his claws...crap.

As he went in for another attack, I lifted the piece of pipe over my head to block myself. It ended up smacking him right in the nose! Hell, talk about lucky. Woo...alright, another three points to me. Hey, this is going better than I thought it would, is our luck finally turning around?

As Tiger Claw and Fish Face suddenly appeared out of nowhere, I decided that no, our luck wasn't turning around. And then, when the Shredder magically came on the scene, I realised that the world simply hated us, and was therefore playing a cruel joke on us.

Cause come on, what did Donnie and I do to deserve this?

"Uh...Donnie," I swallowed thickly, and looked at my brother, who had finished with the Foot ninjas who'd been swarming him.

"What is it now-oh...oh this isn't good...this is very not good. We've gotta get out of here, head for the nearest manhole cover Mikey, now, we can't take them all on-"

"Nice to see you again, turtles."

Donnie was cut off by Tiger Claw wrapping a hand around his throat, squeezing tight enough I could practically see the air leaving him.

I freaked, dropping the pipe. "NO!" I cried, and without thinking, I jumped onto Tiger Claw's back.

Roaring, he shook me off, and I went flying across the roof, into the fire escape. But hey, at least he'd let go of Donnie.

"Well, Stockman was right." Fish Face approached me, mechanical legs making a Hell of a lot of noise. Dang, wasn't anyone else hearing this?

"He said that if we patrolled the roofs every night, we were bound to find you one of these days. And after last night's news, I guess we got lucky."

Shell, they saw the news last night? Well, there goes the neighborhood. Aw man, why did they have to have all the luck, why was it always the bad guys?

"I'm gonna enjoy this, turtle." Fish Face took out the pocket knife he always carried, and was about to swipe it across my face, when Razhar intervened.

"Hey, what do you think you're doing? The orange one's mine, take the purple one instead."

"Stockman's already got dibs on him," Fish Face reasoned.

"Well, then tell Stockman to shove his 'dibs' up his-"

"Enough!" Shredder's loud voice silenced everyone, even the crickets seemed to stop chirping.

"I decide what happens to the freaks," Shredder advanced in on Donatello, and I tried desperately to get to my feet. But shell, it hurt too much to move. I couldn't.

"These two come back to the lab with me, their brothers will come to look for them, and then when I have them all, you can all have your turns."

I gulped, not really wanting to know what he was referring to, but by the sound of it, I'm guessing he didn't mean turns at hopscotch.

"What about the rat?" Tiger Claw asked, "he will be next." Shredder rubbed his hands together, like one of those megalomaniac characters in those cheesy superhero movies. Man, was he creepy.

"He will eventually come to rescue his sons, and he'll meet his death when he does."

My chest tightened, and I felt the stinging burn of tears strike my eyes. Master Splinter...no...that wouldn't happen, I just had to stay positive...think positive Mikey...no one was gonna die...not if I could help it.

"Now, grab them and let's get out of here. The sun will be up soon."

Wait...what? Last I knew...it'd been midnight when we'd left the lair...how was it almost five in the morning already? Crap...Leo and Raph must be freaking...well, wasn't that the icing on the cake?

Razhar came up to me, a feral smile on his lips, and hoisted me over his right shoulder like I was a sack of potatoes. Oh no...they're taking us back to...wherever their new hideout is.

Donnie...oh shell, where's Donnie?

Swiveling my head to the side, I spotted him, unconscious, limp over Tiger Claw's shoulder.

No...no...Donnie! I hadn't even noticed he'd passed out...oh...Shredder was so gonna get it.

I felt anger begin coursing through me, which was rare, because I was rarely mad. But when someone messed with my family, well then, they had the full wrath of Michelangelo the super turtle in store. Shredder better not lay a hand on Donnie, or he'll be sorry, even if I have to go through Razhar, Fish Face, and Tiger Claw to get to him. With that thought in mind, the last thing I remembered before everything went black, was seeing Fish Face come up beside me, with a really big needle in his hands...er...fins.

Well, this just keeps getting better and better.