Me: New story! Yay...? Pleasedon'tthrowrocksatmeIknowI'mlateonupdatesbutIhadtodothis! ...Ahem... Let's roll!

To Be a Hero

Prologue

By: Soniclover28

He wasn't crazy…

They said he was, but he wasn't. No, sir-ee; he was perfectly sane. They just didn't see it. They didn't hear it. They didn't feel it.

He wasn't crazy.

They danced. The voices; they danced. They sang, they screamed, and they sang some more. They sang beautifully.

He wasn't crazy.

The shadows; they were everywhere. The colors; they were in charge. The light; ha—it was nowhere. But he liked it that way. He liked the chaos, and—oh—the clarity it gave him. He loved the voices.

The voices—they sang. They screamed. They sang some more.

He wasn't crazy.

But then they took the voices away. The wonderful, horrible voices… He got them back. The voices came back. And then their voices were silenced…

…Or so he had thought…

He laughed. Oh, how he loved to laugh.

He cried while he laughed. Oh, how he loved the feeling.

The voices—they got louder, louder, and louder still. And then they screamed. They screamed their horribly wondrous songs. The shadows hugged him, the voices sang to him. The colors danced, and the voices—oh, the voices—they were screeching now.

He danced with them. He cried. He laughed. He screamed. He laughed some more.

He wasn't crazy!

He woke up.

He opened his eyes; looked around. His eyes…Yes, his eyes! His eyes were the clue! Wide and wild, they were.

Chained were his feet. Chained were his hands. Chained was his neck.

He looked around—he remembered.

He screamed.

He laughed.

He screamed some more.

No one heard him—no one.

He was alone.

He was immortal.

He was a semi-god.

He was a turtle.

He was a ninja.

He was Michelangelo.

And he wasn't crazy.

"C'mon, Leo! You can do this!"

"Don't give up, meathead! Keep going!"

"Y'oll—ne-er—'eat—ee!"

"Wa-sh—ee!"

His mouth hurt—it hurt so, so bad. Leo's hurt, too, he could tell. But neither one was going to give up. They'd come too far to give up. His cheeks felt as if they were going to burst, and his tongue felt as if it were being stuffed down his throat.

"C'mon, Mike!"

"Go, Leo!"

"They're going to hurt themselves!"

"There is nothing more I can do."

"One more—c'mon, Mikey, you can do it! Almost there-! Yes!"

"Hold it, Leo! Hold it! Good, now try another! No, no! Noooo!"

Leonardo finally gave in. He forced it back out—his jaws were about to break.

"C'mon, Mike! One more and you've got the record!"

Raphael held his breath as his brother nodded weakly and did it again. It held.

"Yes!"

"Now spit 'em out, man!"

Michelangelo finally let the thirty-five doughnut holes fall out of his mouth, sighing in relief as his jaws relaxed.

"Well, that's gross," April grimaced, turning away from the mass of half-chewed doughnut holes.

"Way to go, Mikey!" Raphael congratulated, offering a rare, genuine smile.

"Good try, Leo… We'll get 'em next time…" Casey patted a pouting Leonardo on his shell.

"Yeah, Leo, maybe next time—oh, wait, you'll lose then, too! Oh, yeah, baby, that's Mikey, eleven, and Leo, zero!" The orange-clad turtle boasted, holding up an 'o' shape with his three fingers.

"Wait 'till next Friday, and I'll beat you, and the world record!" Leonardo challenged, grinning at his younger brother.

"Challenge accepted!" Michelangelo grinned back, an excited glint in his eye.

"I must commend you on your victory, Michelangelo." Splinter paused and glanced at the wad of glaze, saliva, and doughnut on the table of the small kitchen. "Now clean up this mess. I do not want any more roaches here than there already is."

Upon hearing this, Raphael hastily went from a mood of triumph to terror, and knocked his brother on the back of the head. "You heard 'im! Get movin'!"

Raph hated cockroaches. He shuddered at the thought of them crawling all over the lair—not that they weren't already.

Michelangelo grinned again, still happy about his win in the doughnut hole contest, but nonetheless started scooping the mass of sugar into a nearby trashcan.

"Thirty-five…" Donatello was still awed. "It's not physically possible! With each hole being more than approximately three inches long, you shouldn't have even been able to put fourteen in your mouth—never mind thirty-five!"

"You're just saying that because you couldn't get past eight," Raphael scoffed.

Donatello gave a lighthearted glare.

"Ah, it's okay, Donnie; not everyone has a bottomless pit for a mouth," April chuckled, placing a hand on the back of the turtle's shell.

"R-right; thanks, April," Donatello blushed.

Michelangelo loved nights like these. He loved it when everyone was relaxed; when everyone was enjoying themselves. It had taken a lot to convince April and Casey to buy them a few cases of doughnut holes, but it was worth it, considering how much fun everyone was having.

He knew the moment would soon pass by, and his family would be tossed back into the war and drama they were currently trapped in. But Michelangelo didn't mind. As long as he got to spend every precious moment with his family, he was happy.

If only it could always be like this.

"Oh, man, Red, we gotta get back; your aunt's gonna kill us!" Casey suddenly shoved Donatello aside, showing her the time on his cell phone.

"Oh, geez! Uh- Bye, guys! Good job, Mikey! See you guys tomorrow!" April exclaimed, grabbing her T-phone and following Casey as he exited the kitchen, and was soon out of sight.

"Uh… Bye…" Leonardo called, a bit surprised at the sudden leave.

And just like that, the moment was over.

"Ooh, the nerve of that guy!" Donatello growled, "I didn't even get to tell her goodbye!"

"Ah, relax, Donnie; it's not like Casey's trying to tear you two apart. Wait…" Michelangelo looked up from washing his sticky hands to see his third older brother glaring at him. "He wouldn't do that…Would he…?"

"Mikey, when a teenage boy likes a teenage girl, he'll do anything he can to be alone with her. That's exactly what Casey's doing right now!"

"But Donnie…" Mikey blinked, "Don't you do that, too?"

That earned himself another glare.

"It's not the same, Mikey! I don't try to hog her to myself every second of every day!" Donatello burst.

Michelangelo opened his mouth to protest, but his other brother, Raphael, shook his head behind Donatello, telling him to drop it.

"…Okay…" He said instead, drying his hands off.

Donatello 'hmphed' and sulked out of the kitchen.

"Well, then…" Leo paused, "You guys wanna watch a movie?" Leonardo suggested, opening the cabinets and taking out a bag of un-popped popcorn.

Michelangelo and Raphael glanced at each other and simultaneously replied, "Sure."

Leonardo nodded and started the popcorn in the microwave. "Cool; you guys go pick out the movie, and I'll try to get Donnie to join us."

"Hm… What about Lion King?" Michelangelo asked, pulling out said tape.

"Mikey, you gotta stop watching kid movies. You're fifteen; choose something else," Raphael huffed, sitting down on the couch.

Michelangelo put the tape back in the crate and rummaged around a few seconds before pulling another one out. "What about The Little Mermaid?" He asked excitedly, "It's my favorite!"

Raphael rolled his eyes. "Move over," he said, digging around in the box. "Ah, here we go!" Raphael pulled out a DVD. "World War Z! You haven't even watched this one, have you?"

Michelangelo shook his head, "Leo and Donnie said it'll give me nightmares."

"Leo and Donnie need to grow up. This movie isn't even that scary."

"But Leo said-"

"Leo is the same age you are, and he's watched it. I think you can watch it, too."

"…Fine…" Michelangelo sighed reluctantly.

"Alright!" Raphael grinned, putting the disc into the turtles' custom made DVD player.

The two brothers then sat back down on the couch and waited for the oldest brother to join them.

"Hey, guys. What're we watching?"

They both turned their heads to see Donatello emerging from his laboratory, looking calmer and more relaxed than about ten minutes ago. Leonardo shortly followed him out and jogged towards the kitchen to retrieve the popcorn.

"World War Z," Raphael said, a smirk on his face. "In honor of Mike's victory," He added, rubbing his little brother's head.

"What? Mikey, you'll get nightmares if you-"

"He's not five, Donnie. He can watch it with us," Raphael interrupted, calmly leaning against the couch.

"…Alright… But if you wake up in the middle of the night screaming, don't come crying to me," Donatello said, sitting on the other side of his little brother.

Michelangelo only chuckled.

"Okay, popcorn's ready. Go ahead and hit 'play'." Leonardo came in the living room, carrying a large bowl of popcorn.

Raphael did as told, and Leonardo nestled himself beside his red-clad brother, passing Michelangelo the popcorn so that they could all reach the bowl.

"Hey, is this World War Z?" Leonardo asked, "Mikey can't watch this."

"Oh, for the love of- He can watch the movie!" Raphael burst, "He's fifteen, Leo; he can handle it!"

Realizing that this problem had already been addressed before, Leonardo gave in, "Alright, alright."

Raphael grinned and turned back to the movie, shoving a handful of popcorn in his mouth.

"Aaaah!"

Raphael jolted awake. He burst out of bed, grabbing his sai and rushing out of his room. He blinked the remnants of sleep from his eyes, and looked around to find Donatello and Leonardo out of their rooms as well, weapons drawn.

Another shout emerged from the underground lair, and the three brothers looked towards the pit to see their little brother curled up in pain on the floor in front of their couch. For a reason maybe only Donnie could explain, there were winds whipping across the lair; howling like the very wind in a devastating storm.

"Mikey!" Raphael exclaimed, rushing towards his sibling in distress.

"What is going on in here?!" Splinter emerged from the dojo, startled by the sudden screams.

The screams were suddenly replaced with mad laughter, and the young turtle rose to his feet. His body trembled, and his face held a wicked smile. Tears streamed from his eyes, yet his laughter grew louder.

"What the-?! Mikey, what's wrong with you?!" Raphael shouted over the roaring wind, freezing only a few meter from the turtle.

"Back! Get back! All of you!" The mad turtle laughed, "He is coming! He is coming!"

"What's going on?!"

The family of mutants looked back to see Michelangelo coming out of his room.

Wait…

"What the shell is happening?!" Raphael yelled.

"What the-?!" Michelangelo's eyes widened as he saw…himself cackling in the living room. "That's not me!"

The winds got louder.

"It is he! It is he! He shall break the curse! He shall!" The so-called Michelangelo howled. The insane turtle suddenly lunged, and the winds picked up more speed as he ran towards his doppelganger.

Splinter, pushing aside his confusion at the entire situation for a moment, jumped into action. Like a bullet, he shot towards the stranger of a turtle. He collided with the double of his youngest, but was easily deflected and sent flying across the lair.

"Sensei!" Leonardo called as his father hit the wall and slid lifelessly to the ground.

"That tears it!" Raphael snarled, pulling out his sai again and charging at his new threat. He forced himself through the wind, a bit surprised that the turtle had stopped moving, and thrust his weapon towards his head.

The turtle merely turned and grabbed Raphael's arm.

The red-clad turtle's eyes widened, and in one swift movement, he was sent hurling into another one of his brothers.

The Michelangelo look-a-like cackled once more, and turned back towards his original target. His eyes were wild, and his body trembled even harder in anticipation.

The real Michelangelo found that he couldn't move. He wasn't frozen in fear—but it was as if some great force were holding him in place. He stood with his arms limp by his sides, his feet beside each other and his head tilted in a sophisticated way.

"You shall come with me…" The fake Michelangelo hissed, coming closer to his doppelganger. "You… You and your brothers shall come with me… You shall break the curse… And you shall set me free…"

Reaching out, the fake Michelangelo placed a finger on the other's forehead.

There was a flash, and Mikey fell to the ground, unconscious.

"Mikey!" Raphael exclaimed, clambering off of Leonardo and standing up again.

"All of you… You shall all come with me!"

There was a golden flash in the room, and everyone was sent into the wall from some unexplained force. The winds died down, and the mutant family started to rise carefully to their feet.

"What… the heck just happened…?" Leonardo panted, leaning against the wall.

"Mikey!" Raphael called for umpteenth time. He ran over to his little brother, who had somehow remained unscathed from the golden glow, and was still lying in the small hallway which held the four brothers' rooms.

The red-clad turtle knelt beside his brother, tentatively shaking him for a response. "Mikey, wake up. This isn't funny; wake up!"

"Raph…?" Michelangelo rasped, slowly blinking his eyes open.

Leonardo and Donatello joined the two brothers, kneeling beside the youngest as he sat up weakly. They both helped support him as Raphael coaxed him to stand.

"My sons!"

At first, they didn't know why their father sounded so worried.

And then, in another golden flash, they disappeared.

They all were suddenly being hurled through a tunnel of colors, and right before they reached the exit, everything turned black.