"Okay Mikey! Miiiiikkeeeyy…" Donatello glared from the lab toward where Mikey was screeching in the common space of the lair.
Donnie growled. He was so close to killing him. Just one more second… Donnie trembled with righteous fury. The screeching stopped suddenly. Whatever happened, Mikey resolved it. Just over a day ago had they returned from Dimension X, the Kraang were coming soon and Donatello had so much work to get done without-
"AAAIIIEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!" another high pitched wail from Mikey made Donnie bubble over.
"MIKEY!" He screamed and tore into the common space practically spitting fire "ARE YOU CRAZY?!"
Mikey looked back at his brother, he looked confused and defeated sitting in front of an open and untouched box of pizza.
His bottom lip quivered "Donnie, the pizza came un cut and I'm trying to find the right yell to cut it."
"You are trying to find the right yell?" Donnie just didn't have the energy for Mikey's insanity "Mikey I am trying to work! The fate of the world might depend on what I am doing and- and you are screaming at pizza!"
Michelangelo pursed his lips and his eyes went as cold as they could for the literal ray of sunshine that is Mikey.
"Well, you should be- doing that thing." Mikey crossed his arms and glared with the ferocity of a five year old "WHILE I AM TRYING TO RIGHT THE WRONG DONE TO THE UNIVERSE THAT IS THIS PIZZA! Don't you see? If I don't slice this pizza.." Mikey's voice deepened like an old horror trailer narrator "terrible fates will befall us all!"
Donnie counted to three before saying "Right, sure thing Mikey. Here use this."
He dug around in the kitchen then tossed a pizza cutter to his little, (and apparently mentally inept) brother.
"I suggest taking the round end and rolling it over the pizza to cut it." Donatello teased.
"I know how to use a pizza cutter!" Mikey stuck out his tongue "Do you think I'm stupid?"
"No comment." Donatello said with a straight face and left.
About two minutes later Donnie heard another scream and burst back into the commons.
Mikey sheepishly laughed "I bit my tongue."
"Ugh!" Donnie slapped his forehead and went back to his Lab.
_Four Hours Later_
"Donnie!"
Donatello perked up. Was that April?
"Donnie help!"
That was April. Donatello abandoned his work and erupted into the commons area with every worst case scenario running through his head simultaneously and at full blast. Raphael was carrying Michelangelo on his back, who was passed out from unknown causes.
"Oh my gosh!" Donnie sheathed his staff to examined Mikey.
Yet he couldn't tell what was wrong from just looking and directed Raph to lay him down on the table in his lab. His nose burned when he got a whiff of Mikey. He smelt rank!
"He fell off one of the fire escapes but, he was acting weird." April explained but Donnie gave her a curious look and she quickly added "Weirder than usual."
Leo hovered behind Donnie "I noticed that too. Ever since we came back from Dimension X, it like the place messed with his head."
"As far as I can tell… he is just passed out." Donatello concluded, nothing was wrong but he brother was laying on the table unresponsive. Something else was happening and he was missing pieces "What else was he doing? I caught him screaming at Pizza just earlier today."
"Well…" The three said hesitantly.
_About Two Hours Ago_
"Mikey were going to help April with training, give her a good run. Wanna come?" Leo asked.
"Don't make me sound like a dog." April called from the other room.
Leo chuckled to himself, she had really good hearing.
Mikey lit up "Yeah, I'll come."
"Great gear up!" Leo said.
The three were running through the tunnels with April keeping up, so far. Leo looked among his brothers. They both gave the nod and the turtles sped up slowly. April gave an exasperated cry as they pulled ahead. Leo smirked and Ralph burst out laughing. A barricade was coming up. It was very high and too steep and smooth to climb strait up. Raph used Leo as a leaping board to reach a pipe system hanging from the ceiling. Leo picked out rough patches and outcroppings on the wall. With enough speed, he was able to run to the top. Shortly after they heard a smack and a groan followed by April's laughter.
"Mikey I can't even!" April doubled over.
Leo and Raph once they put two and two together join in.
Mikey was laying on his back dazed "I should've been able to make that… I used to be able to jump farther."
"Mikey I have never seen you or your brothers jump that far. Even on a good day." April held out a hand for Mikey.
He took it and dusted himself off.
April heard him mutter something about "Dimension X" but she wasn't sure. After a few tries the three helped April up to the top. They kept running, Mikey seeming to continue to overestimate his jumping ability much to everyone's confusion. About an hour later they emerged from the sewers.
"Mikey I suggest you use the latter this time." Leo suggested.
"Ugh fine! Not like I would've made it anyway…" Michelangelo pouted.
There was a collective sigh of relive.
"You've got to be kidding me." Leo's shoulders dropped at the sight.
"Nope." Raph would've found this funny if not for Mikey's track record that thus far.
The three watched as Mikey tried to walk up the wall and fell flat on his shell.
Mikey threw up his hands in disgust "Come on!"
"Have patience Leo." Leonardo told himself before approaching his brother "Mikey, we are starting to worry."
"I'm fine!" Mikey snapped "I'm just not- you know? Never mind."
"Yeah, never mind. Stop acting weird and we can start actually training!" Raphael jumped off the dumpster below the fire escape and on to the metal stairway attached to the building.
Leo offered a hand but Mikey didn't accept. He got up and pouted at his brothers. Leo wanted to apologize but he just sighed and climbed into the fire escape. April and Mikey followed up toward the top.
April clambered over the edge "Yes! I did it!"
The two brothers smiled amongst themselves, reminiscing back to good old days. Each thinking of their early years of training and the small feats they triumphed in. It was a big deal back in the beginning.
Mikey was hanging on the edge of the fire escape. He had climbed up on the outside of the metal railings. He was making those sad puppy eyes.
"Mikey come on." Leo waved his brother along who just shook his head "Mikey what's wrong?"
"I keep messing up." He sighed.
"And that's something new to you?" Raph teased but Leo punched him in the arm and gave him a look saying 'not now!' Raph refused to rub his arm "Ow- watch it!"
"Mistakes never stopped you before." Leo flinched because that didn't sound much better.
"That's not it. Nothing feels right like-" To everyone's horror Mikey let go the railing as if gravity didn't exist "Oh nooo! Ouff!"
"Mikey!" The three ran and looked over the edge.
Their brother and friend was lying in a pile of garbage not responding. Leo and Raphael were on the ground in a split second and picking off rotten food and old wrappers off their brother. April made it back down as quickly as she could.
_Present_
"That is when we brought him here." April finished telling the story and was squeezed between the brothers and half hugging Donnie to get room to see Mikey.
"Well" Donnie thought on everything that April had told him, after he squashed down the giddiness of her being so close "I- I don't know. He is acting like the world functions on a completely different set of rules, OH!"
"What?" The three others asked.
"Didn't Mikey say he was in Dimension X for something like six months?" Donnie asked.
Leo thought on it "Yeah?"
"Think about it. Mikey adapted to a different set of physics and lived that way for months!" The realization hit Donatello like a bag of bricks "He's been here for a day! I don't think he has adjusted to our law of physics yet. It would explain why he was yelling at the pizza. Everything in Dimension X had a fracture frequency."
"And gravity didn't work the same." Raph pondered "We jumped hundreds of meters with ease."
"And you could walk on any surface horizontal, vertical, even on the ceilings without falling off." Leo continued.
It all made sense to the three brothers and they cringed. They hadn't even thought about the side effects being gone for six months or longer would've had on their brother.
"I think an apology is in order." Mikey was laying on the table with his arms crossed, smugly cocking a brow.
"We didn't realize Mikey." Leo spoke for the group "We're sorry."
"Wait how long have you been awake?" Donnie asked.
"On the way here I woke up." Mikey shrugged.
"And you made me carry you all the way back?!" Raphael gritted his teeth "That was over four miles!"
"All part of training?" Mikey shrunk back.
"I'll get you!" Raphael lunged at Mikey who screamed and threw himself off the table "Get back here!"
"I'm sorry Raph! Don't hurt me!" Mikey cried as his red clad brother tore after him.
"I won't hurt you.." Raphael snarled "I'LL END YOU!"