"Why are you such a screw-up!" Raph shouted angrily to Mikey.
"You always goof off and never take a damn thing seriously!" Leo shouted.
"Why don't you two just back off!" Mikey shouted angrily as he ran off to his room.
This started all because Mikey was having fun fighting off the Foot. Mikey has always been a bit of a joker during training and in general. Mikey, and Raph and Leo's opinion, goofed off a little bit too much and nearly got himself killed. They were tired of Mikey being a goof off all the time and let him have it. Donnie didn't really say anything since he was on both sides. In his opinion, Mikey should be more severe, but the other two brother shouldn't be yelling at him about it. After the fums died down between the three brothers, Donnie tried to talk to Mikey.
Mikey was sick and tired of being called a screw up. Everyone keeps telling him what he does wrong and never encourage him on what he is doing right. It has always been this way since he was a kid. He sat on his bed with his face buried in his pillow, crying his eyes out. It felt like hours until he heard someone knocking at his door. All he did was lay down on his bed with his back facing the door. He shouted for them to go away only to feel a soft paw on his quaking shell. He turned over when he realized that it was his father. He nearly collapsed into his arms and started to cry on his shoulder. Splinter held him tightly as he tried to sooth him.
"It's okay my son. It is alright. I am here now. Sh." Splinter soothed quietly.
All Mikey did was sob. He cried out his pain and sorrow as he started to remember all the hurtful words his brothers called him. After about 20 minutes, Mikey began to sniffle and whimper sadly.
"Dad, I'm so tired of all of this," Mikey said as he pulled away from his father.
"I know my son." Splinter said as he rubbed his back softly.
"Everyone tells me what I'm doing wrong. No one ever tells me what I'm doing right." Mikey said with a loud strangled sob.
This broke Splinter's heart since he knows that he is one of those people. He embraced Mikey tightly as he placed a kiss on the side of his temple.
"I am so sorry that this keeps happening to you. I am even more sorry that I am one of those people." Splinter apologized.
"It's not fair!" Mikey sobbed sadly.
"I know. Leonardo and Raphael are just overprotective brothers. They do this because they love you." Splinter explained.
"Father, I keep having nightmares about Leo and Raph disowning me and you let it happen." Mikey said as he looked down in shame. "I don't make a move in a fight unless I know for a fact it's the right one. I'm so scared that-that I'm gonna make a mistake." Mikey added.
"Why have you not brought this up to anyone before?" Splinter asked.
"I was scared about what they would say," Mikey answered.
"Michelangelo, I will take care of this. I do not want you to worry yourself about this any longer." Splinter said soothingly.
"Thank you," Mikey said as he wiped his tears with his hand.
Mikey started to yawn due to fatigue. Splinter pulled back the blanket and moved to tuck Mikey into bed. He kissed his forehead lightly like he used to do for him when he was little.
"Good night my son." Splinter said as he tucked his bear in with Mikey.
"Good night dad, love you," Mikey said softly as he snuggled into the pillow and blankets and hugged his bear tightly.
"I love you too." Splinter said before he left the room.
Splinter walked out of the room and quietly shut the door behind him. He goes down stairs to find his other three sons.
"My sons!" Splinter called out to his children.
Leo, Raph, and Donnie came to their master with a quickness.
"Yes, Master Splinter." All 3 of the boys said simultaneously.
"What happened tonight?" Splinter demanded.
Splinter is protective of all of his sons, but he turned into a savage when it came to his youngest.
"Mikey was acting like a goofball once again, and it nearly got him killed," Ralph explained bluntly.
"Was anyone physically harmed?" Splinter asked.
"No. We're just sick and tired of Mikey acting like a kid." Leo explained angrily.
"My sons, do you remember when I first introduce ninjutsu to you. Michelangelo was so afraid of what I have shown you." Splinter explained as he began to smile at the memory.
"Yeah. But he got over it. How?" Donnie asked.
"I told him that I would never show him anything that would cause him harm. Then he asked me if I could show him to stop being afraid of the moves I showed him. I told him that in order to be less afraid was to make it enjoyable yet safe for himself. From that moment one, he would try to make training and combat enjoyable for himself. The reason why he makes jokes and goofs off during fights. He tries to stop himself from being afraid." Splinter explained.
"We never thought about it like that." Donnie said in shock.
"Your brother also told me that he is having nightmares about Leonardo and Raphael disowning him. This troubles me deeply." Splinter said.
"Man, we have to fix this." Leo said feeling guilty.
"You better. Go talk to your brother."
"Yes master Splinter," the three brothers ran up to Mikey's room.
"Oh no, you don't. Your brother is asleep, you will speak with him in the morning," Splinter explained sharply causing them to freeze in their places.
"Hai sensei," the trio went to their respected rooms to retire for the night.
The next morning, Mikey woke up to the smell of eggs and bacon. He cautiously walked down the stairs to see Leo cooking at the stove, Donnie was looing for something in the fridge, and Ralph was reading his news paper at the table. Donnie came out from the refrigerator and noticed Mickey waiting at the bottom of the stairs like a frightened child.
"Hey Mikey, Leo made you some breakfast. I got you some orange juice, come and eat at the table," he coaxed him while revealing the orange juice carton in his hand.
He slowly walked from the steps to the table, nervously taking a seat.
"Mikey, we're sorry for blowing up at ya. We know that we can be hard on you but it's only because we don't want you getting hurt for no reason," Ralph explained while putting down his paper.
"You're our baby brother. We wouldn't forgive ourselves it something happened to you," Donnie added.
"Not to mention what Splinter would do to us," Leo said with a soft shudder.
"Can you forgive us?"
"Of course I will. All I want is to be told what I am doing right, not just want I'm doing wrong ya know," Mikey explained.
"We promise to be better with that," Leo placed a hand on his shoulder
"Now hush up and eat, dork," Ralph chucked softly while going back to his paper.
With a contentful smile, Mikey scooped his brothers into a group hug, squeezing them tightly. Wit a short hug back, a pat on the elbow from Ralph, Mikey felt content knowing that he was going to be okay.