Just Say No
A/N: Well, I thought I'd post my first chibi story. I'm not quite sure where this idea came from. I guess it just popped into my head. Since this is my first chibi story, I want you guys to not be too harsh. This is my first time writing the Turtles when they're little, so it may not be perfect. I hope you enjoy this little story. Feel free to leave a review after you've read it.
Summary: Michelangelo misunderstands a public service announcement and learns a lesson about why listening is important.
Disclaimer: The TMNT are property of Mirage. If they were mine, I'd cuddle them forever and never let them go.
Seven-year-old Michelangelo was watching one of his favorite cartoons. He stared in awe as Spider-Man captured yet another villain and saved the day. One day, that will me be, he thought. He could just imagine fighting off evil villains and getting cheered by the citizens of New York.
Mikey was busy daydreaming about being like Spider-Man and had missed a commercial about a toy he wanted. Then Spider-Man came on to deliver one of those public service messages. Mikey usually tuned into these announcements, but he was lost in his own world. The only thing he heard was Spider-Man saying, "Kids, just say no."
Raphael came over to the couch. "Mikey, turn the channel," he ordered. "The game's on."
"No," Mikey replied.
"Mikey, I'm serious," said Raph. "Turn the channel, or I'll kick your shell in."
"No," said Mikey again. Then he ran off with Raph chasing after him. As he ran, he saw Donatello on the floor with his Erector set building something. Mikey was busy running from Raph and knocked over Don's work. Don got mad as two Turtles ran past him.
"Mikey, you knocked down my experiment!" Don complained. "Help me pick it up!"
"No," Mikey replied as he tried to avoid Raph's fists.
"Fine!" Don snapped. Then he began to fix it himself. Mikey was so mean. He didn't even want to correct the mess he made. It just wasn't fair.
Leonardo grew angry. "Raph, Mikey, stop fighting right now!" he ordered. "You know Splinter doesn't like it when we fight."
"He started it!" Raph snapped, pointing an accusing finger at Mikey. "He wouldn't turn on the game!"
"Well, I'm finishing it," Leo declared firmly. "Knock it off. Mikey, come here so I can show you how to do that kata you messed up."
Mikey crossed his arms over his chest. "No," he said and hurried off to his room.
Leo was angry, but there was nothing he could do. So he decided to work on the kata by himself in the hopes that Splinter would be pleased that he was practicing.
Splinter arrived home from his scavenging, hoping that his sons hadn't burned the Lair down. He set down his bundles and shouted, "My sons, I am home!" As if on cue, four Turtles came running to give their father a big hug and to see what surprises he had brought home.
"What's for lunch, Father?" Mikey asked eagerly.
"We are having chicken and rice, my son," his father replied. "Now, please help me unload everything. After we have lunch, we will have a school lesson and then afternoon practice."
The Turtles gladly helped unload what their father had brought and put the items where they belonged. Then they assisted him in cooking the chicken and rice. The rat felt it was a good idea to teach his sons how to cook since they would probably do so themselves when they got older. After the meal was cooked, the family began to eat, and Splinter told his sons about all he had seen while topside.
"Mikey, could you please pass the salt?" Leo asked his younger brother.
"No," Mikey replied.
"Michelangelo, that is rude!" Splinter chastised. "Your brother was being polite."
"Here, Leo," Don said, sliding the salt toward his blue-clad brother. Leo thanked Don for the salt and shot his younger brother with a glare. Mikey just gave his older brother an innocent smile.
After the meal was over, Splinter sat with his sons in the living room, an old book in his lap. It was opened to a diagram of the human body with all the parts labeled correctly. He found the discarded book while out scavenging and figured it was a good book to use for teaching his sons.
"Now, my sons, we are going to learn the different parts of the human body," he began. "Can you tell me what this is?" He pointed to the ear.
"It's the ear," Don replied.
"Very good, Donatello," Splinter praised. "Yes, this is an ear. It is a very important part of our bodies."
Raph raised his hand. "Why?" he asked after he was called upon.
"Because the ear allows us to hear things," Splinter replied. "If we did not have our ears, we could not hear the sounds of rushing water, the birds singing in the trees, or--"
"Or a show on TV!" Mikey blurted out.
"Michelangelo, you should raise your hand before you speak," Splinter chastised. "Yes, your answer is true. We would not be able to hear the television if we had no ears."
Leonardo raised his hand and waited until Splinter acknowledged him. "So, if we didn't have ears, we wouldn't hear you, right?" he asked.
"That is correct, Leonardo," Splinter answered. "That is why listening is very important. If you do not listen, you will not know certain things." He took out a bell and a pair of earmuffs. "Now, I am going to demonstrate why ears are important," he said. "I need a volunteer."
Cries of, "Me first!" "I wanna do it!" "No, it's my turn!" "You did it last time!" followed this statement. Splinter chose Donatello to be his volunteer, which led to cries of, "Awwww!" "I wanted to do it!" "No fair!"
Splinter rang the bell and asked Donatello if he could hear it. Don nodded and answered that he could. Splinter then put the earmuffs over Don's ears and rang the bell again. When asked if he could hear the noise, Don didn't respond. Splinter repeated the question after taking the earmuffs from Don's ears.
"No, I didn't hear it," Don answered. "I didn't hear you talking either. The earmuffs blocked out the sound."
"And how did it make you feel?" Splinter inquired.
"I was worried because I couldn't hear at all," Don replied.
"I see," Splinter said. "So, now you realize how important our ears are. They help us to hear not only pleasant sounds, but warning sounds as well. If you are in danger, your ears will let you know. It is also important to listen to instructions so that you know what to do if something happens. Do you understand?"
"Yes, Sensei," the Turtles said.
"Good," Splinter said. "Now, we will commence practice." He led his sons into the dojo and taught them some new katas. After going through the moves a few times, Splinter asked to see each Turtle do the moves individually so he could see if they had picked up on his instructions. As he observed his students, he couldn't help but notice how far they had come since he had begun to teach them.
"Well done," he said after three of the Turtles performed the moves. "Michelangelo, it is your turn. Please show me the moves."
Mikey stared at his father solemnly. "No," he said.
Three Turtles gasped. None of them were allowed to say no to Master Splinter, yet Mikey had dared to do so. What was he thinking?
Splinter was angry. "What did you say?" he demanded.
"I said, no," Mikey replied. "I'm supposed to say it."
"You are supposed to listen to your father," Splinter corrected. "Who told you to do this?" He thought maybe one of Michelangelo's brothers had dared him to do this.
"Spider-Man did," Mikey answered. "He said for me to just say no. I saw it on TV."
"We will watch Spider-Man tomorrow to see if this is so," Splinter said. "For now, you will give me ten flips, and you will be confined to your room for the rest of the day. You will also write an essay about how listening to your elders is important."
Mikey nodded as tears filled his eyes. He hadn't meant for things to happen this way. He thought Spider-Man was telling him something good, but now he knew that it was something bad. He did the flips and went to his room without any objections. He wrote an essay and showed it to his father the next morning.
Splinter looked over the essay and nodded in approval. "Very good, my son," he said. "Now, let us watch some television so you can show me exactly what Spider-Man said."
As they watched the episode, Splinter was a little confused. Not once did Spider-Man say anything about saying no, which meant that Michelangelo wasn't getting that idea from the show. Had his son lied to him about this? He was about to ask when he felt a tug on his kimono as his son was telling him to watch.
Splinter then saw one of the public service announcements featuring Spider-Man. This one was warning children about the dangers of drugs and how kids should "just say no" when they are offered any. And then it dawned on Splinter that his son had misunderstood the commercial and had thought Spider-Man had said to say no to everything he was asked to do. Splinter had to chuckle despite the fact that he did not want his son to think he was making fun of him.
"What's so funny, Sensei?" Mikey asked.
"I see that you misunderstood the nature of the message, my son," Splinter explained. "If you had listened to the whole message, you would have known that Spider-Man was telling you to say no to drugs. What have you learned from this mistake?"
"To not believe everything TV says," Mikey replied.
"Yes, that is a good lesson, but this lesson is to listen carefully to what is being said," Splinter told him. "It is very important to do this so that you know what is going on and what someone is saying."
"And I also have to listen to you when you tell me to do stuff," Mikey added.
Splinter gave his son a hug. "Yes, that is correct," he said.
"I'm sorry, Sensei," said Mikey. "I should have listened to you."
"That is alright," Splinter said with a smile. "All is forgiven."
Mikey snuggled against his father. "I love you, Father," he said.
"I love you, too, Michelangelo," Splinter said as he returned the cuddle.
A/N: So, that's it. What did you think? Did you like it or hate it? Feel free to leave a review after reading. Have a shell-tastic day.