When Dreams Come True
Disclaimer- I do not own TMNT or any of the characters therein. Some VERY rich dude does.
Rating - Mature Audiences ONLY
Story Warnings- Emotional distress, Swearing, Nudity, Self exploration, Implied sex, Implied rape, Violence (Don't like these topics? Do not read.)
Pairings - None with implied OT4.
Universe- 2003
Ages- Leo, Raph, Donnie, and Mikey are all of the equivalent age of 21. (I made them this age to account for time passage in the series storyline.)
Summary- A few nights earlier Mikey was bitten by a human during a fight. Tonight is the full moon, and the animal inside of him wants out.
Chapter credits - Lego brand building bricks
When Dreams Come True
Raphael wasn't a turtle who could be easily intimidated. During the normal, and not so normal, day-to-day routines of his life, there wasn't much that made the emerald turtle nervous.
Except maybe when Donnie walked into the kitchen, and announced he was putting another experiment in the refrigerator. Just for a short time.
A day or two. Week at the most.
Month if he forgot about it.
Then Raph got REALLY nervous.
And aside from one of his brothers being seriously injured, nothing really scared the red banded ninja either.
Except when he found Donnie standing in front of the refrigerator.
Door open. Staring at the contents.
Asking why he couldn't find his experiment container.
That's when Raph would most likely be eating cereal. He almost crapped his shell every single time.
Right now, slogging through the sewer tunnels headed home, Raph wasn't nervous or scared, he was terrified. Not of an unexpected attack. Not over some life threatening injury to one of his brothers. Not because Donnie's mold went missing... Again. But because Mikey, the ever present light of their family, wasn't smiling.
Following behind Leo, the orange banded turtle limped along, not even bothering to avoid the standing puddles of water that happened to be in his way. He wasn't doing flips, or swinging from the overhead pipes. He wasn't joking around about the fight they were just in. He wasn't chattering away about whatever comic he was planning on reading whenever they got back home.
Mikey was just trudging along, head down, acting as if Christmas, New Years, and his birthday had all been cancelled for the next decade.
When Mikey wasn't smiling, Raph kind of felt like the end of the world had hit. Not the cool one with all the zombies, but the real one where the planet blew up, and Christmas really was cancelled.
Either way, an unhappy Michelangelo made for a very uneasy Raphael.
More so than Donnie's dabbling in biological warfare.
Why couldn't the genius dabble in something Raph could see coming, like witchcraft? Microbes just snuck up on a guy, and did all sorts of crazy shit. Before you knew it, people got pink ears, and hair coming out their ass.
Whoever heard of a turtle with a hairy ass? That was just wrong!
Kinda like an unhappy Michelangelo.
Raph wasn't the only one to have noticed the sea green turtle's lack of spark.
Leo kept casting discrete glances at Mikey as they walked silently along. His worried frown deepened a little more each time.
The worried look on Donnie's face mirrored the oldest's. The family medic usually walked in front with Leo, but when one of them was hurt, Donnie brought up the rear with Raph, keeping a close eye on the injured brother.
Mikey was the one who got hurt this time.
The injury wasn't life threatening. Heck, it wasn't even all that serious. It barely broke the skin.
If it had happened to Raph or Leo, chances were neither of them would have even felt it. But Mikey didn't spend as much time on his feet as his two older brothers, so he felt it.
A lot.
"You seem to be limping a little more. Want me to check it again, Mikey?" Donnie asked kindly.
Everyone stopped. At first Mikey didn't even bother to look up, he just scowled at the floor, arms crossed over his chest.
"No," Mikey shifted, putting all of his weight on his uninjured side. "It's okay."
"You've been limping since before we entered the sewers, Mikey. Let Don take another look at it if it's bothering you."
"I said it was fine, Leo!" Mikey snapped.
Eyes widened, and mouths dropped open. Since when did Mikey shout at them for being worried over the orange banded ninja being hurt? He whined at them about it, a lot, milking it for all it was worth. But Mikey never shouted.
That was Raph's M.O.
"I'm sorry, bro," Mikey looked sheepishly at the leader. "I'm okay, really. It's just..." Mikey shrugged. "Embarrassing, ya know?"
"It could have happened to any one of us," Donnie placed a comforting hand on his baby brother's shoulder. "Even Raph," the genius shot the emerald brawler a quick wink.
Raph didn't even bother to scowl back. There was something more important to deal with right at the moment than Donnie's supposed slight to his masculinity.
Like stopping the end of the world.
"Yeah, I know," Mikey sighed. "But it didn't. It happened to me," he huffed. "Only I could kick some punk jerk in the head, and end up with his teeth in my foot!"
"Ya knocked his tooth out," Raph grinned, hoping to tease his baby brother into a better mood.
"How could you tell, Raph? That punch of yours had to have knocked out at least half a dozen!" Leo joined in on his brother's attempt to cheer Mikey up.
"Half a dozen!?" Raph snorted. "More like a BAKER'S dozen!"
It was working! Mikey's brothers could have cheered. The sea green turtle was starting to perk up, if the twitching at the corners of his mouth was any indication.
"So?" Donnie motioned to Mikey's foot, lifting a questioning eyeridge.
"You can check it out when we get home, it'd just be a waste of time to do it now with me still walking on it." Mikey twisted around to lay his head on Raph's shoulder, and stare up at the emerald turtle sideways. "Unless Raphie wants to carry me," he said breathlessly, batting his eyes.
"Snowball's chance in Hell," Raph playfully shoved Mikey's head off his shoulder. "And don't call me Raphie."
Donnie snickered. He had to admit, Mikey had a point.
"Then let's get going," Leo started off down the tunnel once again. "No matter how you got injured, you don't want to run the risk of infection because we took too long getting home."
Donnie and Raph caught the gleam in Leo's eyes, leave it to their fearless leader to find a way to make them feel better, and save their pride all in the same sentence. They also caught the grateful smile Mikey gave their oldest brother.
As the four turtles neared home, Mikey dropped back beside Donnie. Suspecting Mikey wanted to talk, the genius discretely motioned for Raph to move up, giving the two youngest some privacy.
As soon as Leo and Raph entered the lair, Mikey pulled Donnie over to one side, out of sight of the entrance. "Hey, Don? I know if I don't take care of this I can get an infection, but I was wondering... What's the possibility of me getting... something else?"
Donnie was surprised, and more than a little concerned. He knew Mikey had a tendency to look up random things, then let his imagination latch onto what he found, and run with it. More than once Mikey had literally worried himself sick, leaving Donnie to sort through the misinformation, and imagined misconceptions to set things right. Hopefully, the genius could stop it before it got too far this time.
Donnie put on his most serious face, giving his baby brother his full attention. "Such as?"
Mikey nervously dug a toe at the ground. "What if... I mean can..." he sighed, glancing at Donnie from under his eyeridges.
Donnie leaned in, silently encouraging his brother to continue.
"Can... Will I get rabies from this?" Mikey blurted out.
It was all Donnie could do not to burst out laughing. "I seriously doubt you'll get rabies from being bitten by that guy." Donnie thought he did a pretty good job keeping a straight face.
"How do you know?"
"It's POSSIBLE to contract rabies from a human bite, but there haven't been any confirmed cases of it. It's also possible to contract Herpes from a human bite," Donnie almost laughed when Mikey visibly paled. "But again there's no confirmed cases. You have a better chance of contracting Hepatitis, but the bite isn't deep, and I disinfected it pretty quick, so I think you're good. The worst thing you could get, in my opinion, is an infection, and I plan to take care of that in just a few minutes."
Mikey nodded, looking greatly relieved.
"But do us all a favor." Mikey looked expectantly at his genius brother. "No horror movie marathons for a couple days."
"Sheesh, Donnie. You say that like I'm nine!"
Donnie raised an eyeridge. "Sometimes I wonder," he mumbled, following Mikey inside the lair.
"Monster movie marathon!"
Donnie sighed, and closed his book. "I distinctly remember asking you NOT to do this."
"You did," Mikey dumped his armload of DVDs atop the crates that served as a coffee table for the small mutant family. "For a couple of days. It's been three," he grinned.
"You really should have seen that coming, Donnie," Leo laughed, setting two huge bowls of popcorn on opposite sides of Mikey's teetering stack of movie cases. "It's October. I'm surprised he waited this long."
"Oh, I did," Donnie set his book aside, reaching for a handful of popcorn. "I was just hoping, that's all."
"Pipedream, brainiac." Raph set a tray of drinks on the coffee table. "Nuttin' but a pipedream."
"You don't plan on watching ALL of those tonight, do you, Mikey?" Leo asked, eyeing Mikey's pile of DVDs.
"Naw, bro! This is for the WHOLE week, right up to the pizza-day-resists-ants! HALLOWEEN!"
"It's pièce de résistance," Donnie said drily.
"Yeah, yeah, whatever," Mikey waved his hand dismissively. "What'll it be? Vampires? Werewolves? Sludge monsters? Gore?"
"How about one gore for Raph. One classic for Donnie, and one thriller for me?" Leo suggested diplomatically.
Leo had made one very blatant omission. "What about Mikey?"
"It's all good, bro!" Mikey grinned, quickly appeasing Donnie's sense of family injustice. "I like 'em all!"
Four movies, half a case of soda, and an entire box of microwave popcorn later.
Yawning, Raph stood and stretched. His yawn turned into a grin seeing Donnie and Leo both cringe at the snaps and pops to be heard coming from the emerald turtle's joints.
"You sound like a bowl of Rice Krispies, dude," Mikey teased from his spot on the floor.
"Yeah? Well, ya LOOK like a bowl a Rice Krispies." Raph began picking up the scattered cups and cans. "Dat's it fer me. I'm headin' ta bed."
Leo paused reaching for the popcorn bowls. "Want some company?" he asked softly.
It only took a second for a smile to spread across Raph's face. "Sure, Fearless." Golden eyes shifted to look at Donnie.
"I need to check on an analysis I'm running, then I'll join you," Donnie smiled shyly, his face darkening.
Raph's smile grew.
"I'm gonna watch the outtakes, then I'll drag him outta the lab after I finish cleaning up in here."
Leo nodded. "Just don't be too long."
Mikey watched Leo and Raph leave the room. He grinned at Donnie when they both noticed Raph lightly brush shoulders with the blue banded turtle as the pair entered the kitchen.
"Fifteen minutes good enough?" Mikey asked as Donnie got up from the couch.
"Mh-hm. That'll give me enough time to enter my findings into my log."
"See ya in a few."
Mikey hopped up on the sofa, stretching out as he fast forwarded through the credits. He wiggled his carapace down into the cushions, tucking an arm under his head. "Now to find out if Casey's right. They're not going to put a shot of some guy's junk, no matter how good looking he is, on a movie kids could get ahold of." Mikey yawned wide enough his jaw popped. "No one's THAT stupid," he muttered.
Chuckling softly at the movie mishaps, Mikey eyes began to drift closed, taking longer and longer each time to slide back open.
"Maybe I should just go on to bed," he muttered, yawning again. "Catch it next... Damn! Casey was right! They DID put some guy's junk in a movie kids can get ahold of! That's...NASTY."
Despite the momentary shock, Mikey's eyes began once again to droop. Another yawn stretched the sea green turtle's face as his eyes closed. This time, they remained so.
Mikey jerked awake with a start. He lay on the sofa, heart pounding and disoriented, wondering what had awakened him so abruptly. He closed his eyes, drawing slow, steady breaths to calm himself, and extended his senses searching for anything out of the ordinary in the lair.
What could have possibly snapped the orange banded ninja from a sound sleep? Nothing was amiss. Master Splinter was in his room. Leo and Raph were in Leo's, and Donnie was still in the lab.
"Oh, man," Mikey groaned, pushing himself up into a sitting position. "If Donnie missed fun night, all three of 'em are going to be massively pissed at me." Mikey frowned, squirming around on the sofa cushions. "When did the couch get so rough and scratchy? My butt fall asleep with me?" he grumbled.
Mikey reached around to rub some of the discomfort out of his rear, and that was when he noticed it. His leg and arm were white not green, and he no longer had a plastron on his stomach, but he did have a well defined set of 'scutes'. It was almost as if he was...
Five fingered hands flew to his face. "Holy shell!" he whispered, as he felt his new facial features. "I'm... HUMAN!" He scrunched the nose that now protruded from his face and sniffed. "What the..." he brought his hand closer to his nose and sniffed again. "I need a bath," he jerked his hand back grimacing.
"I'm HUMAN!" Mikey was so excited it could easily be described as giddy.
He grabbed the top of his head. "I got hair!" Mikey closed his eyes caressing the silken strands. "So soft," he hummed. His eyes flew open. "Mirror! Mirror! I need a mirror! Bathroom! Mirror in the bathroom!"
Mikey jumped up off the sofa, took three steps, and dropped to his knees as the worse pain the once sea green turtle could possibly imagine shot from his groin all the way to his head and down to his toes, hitting every nerve in between, and then some.
"What the fuck!" He rolled around on the floor, cupping both hands between his legs. "How the shell does Casey run!? I can't even walk!"
When the pain subsided to a more manageable level, Mikey rolled over onto his back. He sat up, gingerly fingering his still somewhat painful dangly bits.
"Who designed this!? No wonder Case-man wears a cup all the time. Having your junk just hanging out like this is a guy's first liability in a fight. If he even MAKES it there, that is!" Mikey leaned over, spreading his legs for a better look. "Kinda small," he muttered, poking at it. "All wrinkled-y and scrunched up. All pink looking too." Mikey gave his new appendage a gentle shake. "Not anything I'd be wanting to show off. And what's with all this hair?" Again the former turtle wrinkled his nose. "And why does in between a human's legs smell? Does anybody know?"
Having determined there was no permanent damage, Mikey very carefully climbed to his feet. He stood, wide legged, trying to figure out how to get to the bathroom, and the mirror without a repeat of his earlier attempt at the nut cracker. He swung one leg out and up, taking a step, then swung the other leg around, taking another.
"I feel like I'm doing a really BAD John Wayne sumo impression." Just for the fun of it, he held his arms out at his sides, as if reaching for twin revolvers strapped to his hips. "Reach for the sky, bad guy-san" he growled in as deep a voice as he could manage, scowling so hard it would have made Raph proud.
With a heavy sigh, Mikey straightened to his full human height, which was less than his full turtle height. That sucked! "Okay, dude, THINK. Casey doesn't walk like that. So, what's the difference between him and me? Besides me being the cute one, that is."
Crossing his arms over his chest, elbow cupped in his palm, Mikey tapped his forefinger on his chin in thought. He paused briefly, and grinned. That was kind of fun. He did it a few more times, wrinkling his forehead, then stretching his chin upwards just to mix it up a little.
Mikey's baby blues opened wide. "That's it! Casey doesn't run around naked! He wears clothes!" He glanced down at his new human form. "Good thing too, because a naked human has a LOT left to be desired."
Mikey unconsciously reached down to scratch his thigh, then drifted around to scratch his butt, finally ending at his armpit. "And what's with all the scratching?" Mikey looked at his hand digging at his armpit as if it were a previously undiscovered insect. "And the hair?" He took a quick whiff. "And the stink? Damn." As cool as it was to now have a nose, it was getting really old really fast with all that stink wrinkling he was doing with it.
At least it was common knowledge humans had a very poor sense of smell. Mikey didn't think he could stand being around himself if he had his more developed sense of turtle smell. Or was that turtle sense of smell?
Either way, humans smelled! And NOT in a good way.
Now he knew why April wore perfume, but he wasn't stupid enough to say anything to her about it.
Reaching down and gently cupping a hand around his dangly bits, Mikey hurried as fast as he dared back to the sofa.
Good thing it was only a few steps. Bending over like that would literally become a pain.
He grinned, immediately spying his one piece of clothing that could fix his current walking dilemma. His obi.
After several minutes of adjustments, readjustments, and a couple of close calls, Mikey managed to get his obi wrapped around his groin in such a way as to protect his most tender portions from being squashed between his thighs as he walked. He didn't mind having to hold the loose ends together at his shoulder, it was either that or have the thing scrunch up, and ride up the crack of his ass.
That was just gross.
No wonder Casey wore loose, baggy boxers.
Mikey was thrilled to finally make it to the bathroom, mainly because he did it without further incident. He quietly closed the door, and made certain the lock was engaged.
He flicked the switch on for the lights over the sink, turned towards the mirror, and froze. He couldn't bring himself to go any closer. A thousand what if's ran through his mind. What if he was ugly? What if he was handsome? What if he was dreaming?
What if he wasn't?
Slowly, the once turtle walked to the sink. He dropped the ends of his obi, letting it fall to the floor, and gripped the edges of the porcelain fixture in a white knuckled grip. He slowly lifted his head, eyes squeezed tightly shut.
"Okay, Michelangelo. You can do this." He took a deep breath, and opened his eyes, which immediately grew unnaturally huge. "Holy shell," he whispered. "I am... so damned hot I burn myself, woohoo!"
Everything was just... wow.
His skin was so soft and smooth, it glowed.
Mikey ran his hands over his arms, and chest. It was the complete opposite of his rough, pebbly turtle skin. And NIPPLES! Oh, man! He had nipples!
He had to!
HE JUST HAD TO!
Mikey rolled the twin nubs between his forefinger and thumb, lightly pinching. He closed his eyes, sighing at the sensations.
It felt so good, he had to do it a couple more times. Then just once more because he now had nipples and could.
HAIR! He had HAIR! Long, silky, blond hair! It was nothing like the coarse, curly stuff that seemed to be sprouting from every other nook and cranny on his human body. It was WAY better!
He wanted to brush it!
Mikey opened every drawer and cabinet looking for a brush. Nothing! All he found were the brushes they used for cleaning.
There was no way in Hell he was using the one they cleaned the toilet with. That was just nasty!
He used the one they scrubbed the shower walls with instead.
It was easy to see why April enjoyed brushing her hair so much. It felt really good. Almost as good as having nipples.
Mikey copped a feel on his chest one more time for comparison.
Nope! Nipples were better.
But not by much.
And eyelashes! He had long, black eyelashes. The kind that flipped up at the end, like you always saw on fashion models.
He couldn't resist batting them. It looked so cool!
Mmm, sexy too.
Imagine what he could talk Donnie into doing with THESE eyewinkers.
DONNIE!
Mikey had forgotten all about his brothers!
He spun around, staring fearfully at the door, half expecting Leo, Raph, and Donnie to all come bursting through.
What would they think? What would they say?!
He was human! What was going to happen to their family with him being human!? He wasn't as strong as a human as he had been as a turtle! Nor as fast! At least not until he figured out this whole walking without squishing his dangly bits thing.
Might have to bring Donnie in to solve that one.
If he couldn't hold his own on patrol and they were captured, how would he...
Mikey's brain almost derailed as it changed tracks at high speed.
As a human, he could go out whenever he wanted! He could get a job! He could buy the things his family needed! They wouldn't have to ask April and Casey anymore! They would truly be independent!
This opened up a whole new world of possibilities for the little mutant clan. Wonderful possibilities!
Faster than he would have thought possible in his new form, Mikey wrapped himself back up in his obi, this time tying it around his waist.
He needed his hands free, so that sucker could just ride on up!
He fast walked back to the couch, he wasn't quite ready to take on running just yet, grabbed his phone where it was laying on the coffee table, and speed dialed all three of his brothers. He then hightailed, or rather no-tailed, it back to the bathroom. This time he didn't bother locking the door before he whipped off his obi, and tossed it in with the dirty towels.
Mikey saw a LOT of laundry in his near future.
He leaned up against the sink to wait. Grinning, he excitedly watched the door.
His brothers were so going to freak.
Freak is exactly what Mikey's brothers did. But not in a good way.
Donnie was the first to arrive. And being the brilliant turtle that he was, Donatello did what any self respecting, over achieving, inquisitive, genius would do upon discovering an unknown human standing ass naked in the family bathroom in the middle of the night.
He screamed like a five year-old girl with a worm down her dress.
Raph wasn't happy having his fun time with Leo interrupted by Donnie screaming like a sissy.
Leo wasn't happy having his fun night with Raph interrupted by an unknown human standing ass naked in their bathroom in the middle of the night, making Donnie scream like a sissy.
Mikey wasn't happy being the unknown human standing ass naked in the bathroom in the middle of the night, making Donnie scream like a sissy when he suddenly found himself on the business end of his two oldest brothers' very sharp, very pointy weapons.
"Guys, stop!" Donnie shouted, sounding not at all like a sissy as he thrust his bo out to keep the unknown human standing ass naked in the bathroom in the middle of the night from becoming a pin cushion, or worse. "It's Mikey! It's Mikey!"
"Mikey?" Raph blinked at his genius brother in disbelief. "How da ya know?!" he growled.
"He SMELLS like Mikey!"
Raph took a sniff. "He smells like ass."
"Mikey?" Leo's swords didn't drop an inch, but his eyes did. "How..." he blinked, then squinted. "What..."
"An' shower cleaner."
"I'm not asking. I don't want to know," Donnie shook his head when slightly fearful golden eyes turned his way.
Mikey turned from scowling at his two middle brothers to grinning from ear to ear at his oldest brother. He lifted his foot, pointing at the obvious set of teeth marks along the side. "Dudes, I turn human during a full moon! I'm a WEREHUMAN!"
"The full moon isn't until tomorrow night," Donnie corrected.
"Hey," Mikey dropped his foot, pointing a finger at his brother. "They could be wrong! You've always said that calendars have a small percent of error in them!"
Donnie nodded. "Three point nine, six percent," he said absently.
"So I could be! Right!? RIGHT!? I could be?"
"Okay. Okay," Leo sheathed his swords in favor of pinching the skin between his eyes. "Donnie, is THIS even possible?" he waved his free hand to indicate Mikey's changed form.
"How would I know, Leo? If the Foot were dabbling in ancient magics again, and using Purple Dragon gang members as test subjects, maybe. We've seen enough strange things to know better than to rule anything out."
"Splinter's da closest t'in' we got ta an expert on da arcane. Let's go ask him."
"NO!" Leo and Mikey shouted at the same time.
Mikey knew if their father found out about this, Splinter'd go all mother hen on him. Leo was mother hen enough for twenty people let alone one! He had to think up something quick!
"We are NOT waking Sensei for this," Leo added heatedly. "He's going on his Nexus trip tomorrow, and I don't want anything to get in the way of that."
Mikey could work with that.
"I'm surprised he's still going after what happened when he came back the last two times," Mikey looked at his brothers, and inwardly cringed. They didn't look too happy being reminded about the messes they had gotten themselves into the last two times Splinter had been in the Nexus.
Mikey was on damage control like white on rice.
"Doesn't April have that section on ancient religions, mythology, voodoo, and stuff in the shop? We can look there." Mikey resisted the urge to exhale in frustration. Why was it so difficult for those three to let certain things go? "Donnie, you keep saying every myth, legend, and fairy tale has a little bit of fact behind it." Man! They were hanging onto that junk like a starving turtle on a slice of pizza! Time to bring out the big guns! "It's either that or the internet."
Donnie gave Leo a sideways glance. "The internet is so full of junk, it'd take days just to sift through it all, never mind researching something that seems legitimate."
Next, it was Raph's turn to look Leo's way. "We know fer a fact April an' Case went ta visit April's uncle and sister up at da farm dis week. We won't have ta explain anyt'in' ta 'em, least not yet."
It was clearly the leader's decision.
Leo looked like he just wanted to go back upstairs, continue fun night with Raph, and forget the whole thing. Either that or hide under the bed.
"Alright. We'll go see what we can find at April's."
Mikey moved closer to Leo, waving his arms animatedly as he talked. "Think of all the things that'd be easier for us with me being human! Grocery shopping! Supply runs! Getting medicine when we're sick! You'll see! This'll be great!"
"Yer only gonna be human fer one night, bonehead."
"If genius boy here works it right," Mikey propped an elbow on Donnie's shoulder. "One night's all we'll need."
Leo sniffed the air. He had been catching faint whiffs of something that seemed to belong in a bathroom, just not THEIRS, ever since he walked in. The more Mikey talked, with his normal Mikey exuberance, the more he smelled it.
Raph couldn't be right. Could he?
The leader's suspicions were confirmed when Donnie's beak wrinkled in disgust, and the genius leaned away from their now human brother.
Wow, Raph was right.
"Now that that's settled," Mikey headed for the bathroom door. "We're off to April's!"
"Hold it." Mikey suddenly found his way barred by Leo's katana. "The only place you're going is the shower."
Mikey's hands shot out to his sides as he tried not to skewer himself on his brother's very sharp, and very pointy weapon. "Leo, bro! We're wasting time! Like Raph said, I only have one night!"
"Then I suggest you be quick about it," Leo made as if to tap Mikey's very soft, very vulnerable, human stomach with the business side of his sword. "Because you smell like ass."
Mikey quickly discovered one major downfall to being human. Running naked through the sewers was a lot more fun when you're a turtle than it is when you're a human, that's for sure.
Sliding across exposed metal pipes burned his now clean ass.
Mikey wasn't EXACTLY naked, but the towel he wore kept flying up often enough it sure seemed like it. The clothes the turtles usually wore as disguises when they went to public places during daylight hours, or just for added warmth during cold weather, didn't fit Mikey's human frame. When he put them on he had resembled a three year old trying to put on his grandfather's post Thanksgiving dinner clothes.
Even the red suspenders were too big. Damn Donnie and his big ass shell!
Mikey's towel may have been flying open as he ran at top speed through the tunnels, but at least he didn't have to worry about it falling off. His spare obi saw to that.
He looked a lot like some ancient Egyptian nobleman, the only thing missing was the headdress.
Raph snatched the towel off Mikey's head when Leo said no.
Spoilsports!
And thank God for Donatello! The genius had figured out a way to keep Mikey's dangly bits from being squished into jelly when he walked! Who knew ace bandages could be so versatile?
Leo stopped, hand on the manhole cover, and looked down at his brothers. "We need to be extra cautious when we get up there. Mikey's so pale, he'll shine like a beacon across half the city if he gets hit by any light."
"I'm not THAT pale, Leo!" the once turtle huffed.
"Ya are too," Raph walked by, swatting his baby brother on the butt. "I need sunglasses just looking at ya."
Mikey stuck his tongue out, blowing a raspberry at Raph. "You're just jealous."
"Hardly," Raph smirked as he quickly scaled the ladder topside.
For some reason, that entire conversation bothered Mikey. It wasn't so much the brawler's crack about needing sunglasses that was a problem for the youngest ninja, nor was it Raph's sarcastic reply when Mikey accused him of being jealous. It was Leo's warning for added caution. He had been so excited about all the ways being human could benefit his family, Mikey had never considered the possibility it might be a liability.
"Hey, Mikey, you okay?" Donnie placed what he hoped was a comforting hand on his brother's back.
"Yeah, bro," Mikey flashed the genius a bright smile. "Just takes some getting used to."
"I bet it does," Donnie motioned towards the ladder. "You go first. I'll bring up the rear, and replace the cover."
Mikey bite back the multitude of wisecracks that popped into his head when Donnie said 'rear'. As he scaled the ladder, Mikey couldn't shake the feeling Donnie was upset. He couldn't quite put his finger on it, but Donnie wasn't acting like his normal self.
Donnie was acting like he had lost his best friend.
They four brothers didn't have any problems reaching the rooftops, and all four hoped the trip to April's would remain equally as uneventful. They put Mikey in between them just in case the once turtle's human form wasn't up to the orange ninja's usual performance levels. Which was a good thing too, because as soon as Mikey jumped the first rooftop, they discovered it wasn't.
Mikey didn't think nothing of it, it was a jump he had made countless times. He could make it in his sleep. He had his speed up, and there was nothing in his way, so he just went for it as usual.
That was when everything went wrong.
Leo and Donnie had both insisted Mikey wear shoes. The youngest brother had protested at first, but their reasoning became crystal clear to the orange ninja when Mikey entered his bedroom, and stepped on a Lego brick.
Raph had been previously unaware his baby brother knew such words, let alone the proper phrasing of them.
If Leo had ears, they would've turned red.
Luckily, Donnie had an extra pair of Casey's running shoes in his lab. They had had some goo stuck to the bottom of them Donnie wanted to analyze and the genius had simply forgotten to return them when he was finished.
Raph couldn't help but shudder. He highly suspected the shoe goo had ended up in the refrigerator at some point.
Casey's shoes fit Mikey's feet fairly well, with two pair of socks, but they threw off his timing. The shoes made everything feel... farther away.
When Mikey made his jump, he had had a difficult time judging where to plant his foot to push off. As soon as his feet left the rooftop, Mikey knew he had messed up, and was going to fall short. Way short. Shorter than just the shoes alone could have caused.
Mikey's leg muscles were much weaker as a human than they had been as a turtle.
To make matters worse, he didn't have any of his gear on him.
For the first time in his life, Mikey truly felt he was about to go splat.
He didn't. Thanks to Raphael.
Raph had been keeping a close watch on their baby brother the second the turtles hit topside, and he knew what was going to happen the second Mikey set foot on the edge of the roof. Mikey's foot was set too far back. When he jumped not enough force went into his take off, that combined with Mikey's weaker human muscles was a recipe for disaster.
Raph went into action, using every ounce of power he had in those massive legs to dive straight down, aiming for his falling brother.
Leo and Donnie figured out what was happening the second Raph's grappling hook clanged against the fire escape. Leo had his grappling hook out in seconds, ready to assist.
"No, Leo! Stay put!" Donnie shouted across the alley. "You don't have a clear angle! You'll get tangled in Raph's line, and all three of you will fall!"
Luckily, assistance wasn't needed.
A thousand things went through Mikey's mind as he watched the pavement getting closer by the second. The most prominent was, 'I'm going to die, and I missed fun night!'
It took a few seconds for the once turtle's mind to register it wasn't the pavement that slammed into him, but an emerald green body when all the air rushed from Mikey's lungs with a pained grunt.
"Hang tight, little brother. I got ya."
Soon Mikey was back standing on the roof, surrounded by his brothers, trying to come to terms with not being dead, but still being human. For obvious reasons, that wasn't nowhere near as exciting as it had been a few hours ago.
"Mikey, what happened?" Leo's voice wasn't his normal, in charge, leader's voice. It was shaky and... fearful.
"These shoes messed me up, and I stepped wrong," Mikey said apologetically.
Leo watched his baby brother, saying nothing for several minutes. Finally, he nodded, "Okay, let's get moving. Same formation."
Now Mikey had TWO brother that were acting strange.
As Leo turned to go, Mikey noticed Raph watching him. Before the younger could say anything, Raph took off across the roof after Leo. Mikey did however notice the odd expression on Raph's face. He looked... worried, almost sad even.
Make that three brothers acting strange.
"Mike?" Donnie's softly spoken question snapped the orange banded ninja from his musings. "Ready to go?"
"Yeah, Don. Sorry." Mikey took off, his mind a jumbled mess.
When they neared the next alley, Raph suddenly appeared out of nowhere beside Mikey. "Keep going," the emerald turtle growled as if in warning. "Don't slow down, take da jump like normal."
Slightly confused, and more than a little nervous, Mikey did as told. He quickly found out why.
Seconds after he jumped, Mikey felt himself scooped up in midair. Strong emerald arms held him tight as they cleared the alley where Raph set him oh so carefully on his feet.
Something was definitely wrong here.
"Raph... Why?" Mikey asked quietly, not wanting to embarrass his emotionally constipated brother.
"I saw ya dyin' back dere," watery golden eyes flicked at Mikey. "Didn't like it one damn bit."
Raph took off after Leo, leaving Donatello to collect a very confused Mikey.
It would have been a toss up to determine which of the three remaining turtle brothers was most relieved when they finally reached April's shop. Surely no harm would come to their human brother in the home of their human friends.
If they had listened closely, Leo, Donnie, or Raph would most certainly have heard Fickle Fate, bitch that she was, laughing her ass off at them as soon as that thought entered their minds.
Mikey had no such concerns. He knew he was as safe here as he was in the lair, possibly more so since April was human. Nothing bad ever happened to Casey when he visited their red haired friend, unless he decided to get stupid and call April babe.
If Casey had a death wish, that was HIS problem, not Mikey's.
Mikey's problem was an empty belly, a naked body, and three weird acting brothers. He decided to go for the naked body problem first.
"Hey guys, while you're looking through April's books, I'm gonna go borrow a few of Casey's clothes he keeps here."
All three had the same look on their faces. Mikey. In April's bedroom. ALONE. NOT a good idea. EVER!
Wow, this was a first. Mikey had NEVER gotten THAT look from all three of his brothers at the same time.
"Dudes, come on! This is April's! I'm not going to DO anything! I'm just going to grab some stuff so I don't freeze my tail off when we head back, figuratively speaking of course." Mikey added, patting his towel covered butt as he headed down the hallway.
The now human ninja paused just a second listening for his brothers in the living room before turning into April's bedroom. He wasn't positive, but Mikey could have sworn Leo said something. When it wasn't repeated, he shrugged it off, too eager to try on some clothes that would most likely fit his not so bulky frame to worry about it.
Back in the living room, Raph voiced his agreement with Leo's mumbled comment. "I wish he still had a tail too."
Donnie nodded his.
Mikey stood in the middle of April's bedroom, rubbing his hands together, and grinning like a kid left overnight in an unmanned toy store with a ten foot long candy counter. Either that or a very hungry mutant turtle left overnight in an unmanned pizzeria with about a hundred pizzas still in the warmer.
Dreams can come true.
"Now to find Casey's clothes." Mikey had no idea where April would have put them, so he just started opening drawers.
"Woah..." The first thing Mikey pulled out was a bra. "This has to be April's, because I KNOW Casey's balls aren't THIS big." He carefully folded the undergarment and put it away. "Raph's maybe, but he's got a shell for that."
Mikey had to stop for a minute and shake his head, hard. Somehow he doubted that would be enough to get rid of the image of Raphael with a black lace bra strapped around his legs. "Dude, wear red. Matches the mask," he mumbled.
"Now THIS has potential." Mikey held up a pair of bright pink, lace trimmed, bikini panties. He held them up to his groin. "Little small though. Wonder if she has some bigger?" he stated digging around in the drawer with gusto. "Some more like... What do they call 'em on the commercials? Granny panties!"
After digging to the bottom of the drawer several times, Mikey held up a pair that looked like they may fit... as soon as he figured out which string was the one that went around his waist that is. "Just go for it, dude," he told himself.
Mikey sat on the bed, slipping his legs through the openings. When he stood up to pull April's undergarment the rest of the way up onto his waist, Mikey saw the antique, full length mirror April kept in the corner of her bedroom. Grinning, and slightly bent over from holding the panties around his knees, Mikey hobbled over to stand in front of the mirror as he pulled the silky garment over his hips.
"Nice," keeping his feet planted, Mikey turned his body from side to side, admiring himself in the mirror. "VERY nice." His approving expression morphed into one of irritation and discomfort. "But how does she stand this string going up her ass? Is this what it feels like to be cut in half by dental floss? Probably why she keeps buying those Kotex. Pad it so it doesn't crawl up in there."
He quickly pulled the offending undergarment off, but before he could put them back in the drawer, inspiration struck hard and fast. "Wonder how they'd feel if I turned 'em around?"
Without a second's hesitation Mikey was back in front of the mirror, April's panties once again on his body, only this time turned backwards.
"I am SO telling Casey about THIS! Keeps everything lifted up, out of the way!" Hands clasped behind his head, Mikey shook his hips. "Not a chance of squishing anything no matter how fast you run! WOOHOO! Now for a shirt!"
Mikey executed a perfect handspring over April's bed, landing in front of her closet door. "Too small. To small. Too small," he rifled through shirt after shirt, until he came to something that felt a lot like the underwear he was wearing. "Oohh, same color too."
Back in front of the mirror, Mikey ran his hands over the silky camisole. "Nii-ice," he nodded approvingly. "Now for something a bit warmer."
A muffled crash from downstairs interrupted Mikey's clothing hunt. Instinct and training kicked in, sending the now human ninja running for the stairs.
Yet again Mikey was thankful beyond belief for the years of ninja training Master Splinter had put them through when the first thing he saw after bursting through the door into April's shop was an iron shield coming right for his face.
"Woah!" Mikey shouted, sliding across the floor to avoid imminent decapitation.
"Mikey, what're you doing down here! Get back upstairs!" Raph roared, bashing a black clad thug in the head with a bronze statuette. "These jerks mean business!"
"Really?!" Mikey's hand flicked out, cracking the end of his nunchuck against the back of another thug's neck. "What was your first clue?! The shield that came flying at my HEAD?!" Mikey dropped down, avoiding a wildly swung punch.
"Raph's right, Mikey!" Donnie brought the end of his bo up, catching the wannabe boxer under the chin. "You're more vulnerable in human form! Your skin's not as thick! Your skeletal structure isn't as strong! And you don't have a carapace or plastron protecting your internal organs from blunt force trauma!"
"Et tu, Donnie?"
Mikey rolled across the glass display case April had set in the middle of the shop, kicking a thug sneaking up on Leo from the leader's blind spot. Leo quickly dispatched the armed thief in front of him then turned to send the thug Mikey kicked across the room.
"Mikey!" Leo grabbed his baby brother pulling him out of the path of a sword wielding thug. "Mikey," he tried again. "Please, get someplace safe! We almost lost you once tonight. Let's not push it."
Having said his piece, and expecting to be obeyed, Leo took off to go help Raph stop three thugs trying to sneak April's Egyptian sarcophagus out the door.
Stunned, Mikey took several steps back. With nothing else to do, he simply stood watching his brothers fight. Each one was taking hits hard enough they would have left Mikey's human skin black and blue for weeks. And giving hits hard enough the thugs would be feeling them for weeks to come. He had never really noticed it before, but Mikey also realized even with their bulky shells his brothers were considerably faster than the human thieves they fought.
He, Michelangelo Hamato, the fastest, quickest, most agile of them all, had become a liability not just once, but twice in one night to his brothers simply because he was human.
Being human really sucked.
"Hey Chase, this one dresses like my sister, but looks a lot like your brother!"
Mikey spun, nunchucks at the ready, to find three thugs standing behind him.
"I don't think so, Jim. My brother doesn't walk around wearing women's clothes with his dick hanging out," the one supposedly named Chase chuckled evilly. "Maybe this one has an identity crisis going on, huh? Whatcha think, Bill?"
"I think we outta bash him over the head," Bill leaned in, giving Mikey an cold, emotionless smile. "Then fuck his brains out just for fun."
"Sounds good to me," Jim agreed. "The boys'll keep the freaks busy, so why not have some fun with little missy here?"
Mikey swallowed hard. "You can either take my word for it, or find out the hard way, but I'm going to be pretty hard to take down."
"Oh, I doubt that," Chase's voice came from behind Mikey. "I doubt that very much."
Mikey didn't have time to do anything, not yell, not call for help, not even lift his nunchucks to defend himself before something hard and solid hit him in the head. He fell to the floor, fighting the darkness threatening to engulf him.
He tried to call for his brothers, but the only thing that came out was a barely audible croak. His head was filled with the evil laughter of his attackers along with the pounding from whatever he had been hit with. 'This is it,' he thought. 'I'm going to die, right here, right now. As a human.' Mikey drew a shuddering breath, expecting the worst, waiting for it.
"I wish I had never become human," he whispered. "I want... to be... a... turtle."
Then the darkness consumed him.
"Mikey?"
That sound.
"Hey, Mikey?"
He knew that sound.
"You hear me, little brother?"
It was the most beautiful sound in all the world.
Mikey fought to open his eyes, but it was an almost impossible struggle. Especially with the gentle, loving touch that accompanied it. Damn, it felt so good.
Slowly, Mikey blinked his eyes open to see the most glorious sight in all the world. Leo was right in front of him, face-to-face, with the most loving expression Mikey could ever remember seeing on his oldest brother's face.
"I was beginning to wonder if you were ever going to wake up," Leo smiled.
"Yeah," Mikey closed his eyes, taking a deep breath. "I guess it was touch and go there for a while, huh?"
"What?"
Something in Leo's voice made the orange banded ninja open his eyes. For a second, Mikey didn't understand why Leo was looking at him so confused, then he lifted his head and looked around. There was Donnie and Raph, both standing slightly to one side of Leo in... the LAIR!
Mikey sat up so fast he almost toppled Leo over onto his shell. His hands flew to his face. No nose.
He didn't have a nose!
His hands! He only had three fingers! And no hair!
"I'm a turtle!" Mikey dropped to the floor, latching onto Leo with such force they would have hit the floor if not for Raph. "I'm a TURTLE!"
"Yeah, Mikey. We're all turtles," Donnie said, sounding as confused as Leo looked.
"What'd ya t'ink ya were, knucklehead? Human?"
"Yeah, actually."
"You were dreaming, Mikey," Leo chuckled, helping the sea green turtle to stand. "Why don't we go tuck you in for the night. We can have fun tomorrow night."
"Oh, no way, bro! I'm not missing fun night! Not tonight! Not tomorrow night! Not EVER! Not after what I just got through dreaming!"
"I told you not to watch those horror movies, Mikey," Donnie wrapped an arm around his brother. "They mess with you every time. Although dreaming about being human sounds like it might have been fun."
Mikey stopped on the middle of the stairs. "Don't EVER wish to be human, Donnie! It's not all it's cracked up to be, believe me!"
All four brothers walked inside Leo's bedroom still chuckling about Mikey's dream. None of them saw the bit of shadow that broke away from the corner by the dojo, and moved into the faint light coming from the range hood in the kitchen. A smile slowly spread across Splinter's face as he stared at the closed door to Leo's room.
"I must thank the Daimyo," Splinter tossed a small orange stone into the air, and caught it again. "For the loan of one of his dream stones. Perhaps with my sons now having a more satisfying distraction in the form of Michelangelo wanting to demonstrate his appreciation for each of his brothers while I am in the Nexus, I will have a more satisfying return." Chuckling, the aged rat made his way back to his bedroom. "I do hope the local bakery has a large quantity of those pastries I enjoy so much. With Michelangelo's dream being recorded within this stone, movie night now has a whole new meaning."
Thanks for reading.