And it's been good the way it was
And it's been good the way it was
And it's been good the way it was
But am I this bad, now that I'm in charge?


Second chapter. One more to go. Hopefully, someone will review soon. (;
Mikey, after his discovery, is called to talk to master Splinter and desperately tries to be serious for the first time of his life..


I can not believe it! Me, the oldest turtle?!
I mean, sure. It has always been clear that there can not be more than a few weeks between us, if at all. We were all babys when Sensei found us in the sewers and we grew up all the same. But we have always considered that Leo was the oldest, simply because he tried hardest and he had this mother hen instinct, always trying to protect us. Which is why he was called to be the leader. Which is why he trained hardest, pushed himself the most, meditated every day since he learned how, knows how to use every single weapon we have. I have always considered Raph to be the strongest- but he is just too much a hot-headed teenager. Don is the smartest, of course, but he never intended to be looked up to. Leo is fastest and most skilled. And I am..

Well, I hate to admit it, but I am the distraction.
The unfocused, annoying, playful, little brother. This has always been my role.

But guess what, I can be serious. And right now all my life is flashing before my inner eye and shows me what I did wrong. Because since I am oldest now..
I have to take responsibility.
Better to start training right away. If I have to protect everyone now, I will have to study much harder than I did until now...

Immediately, I start some sit-ups.
Only to find out that in my room, there is just not enough space for it.
I mean, I have shelves and stuff. I just don't really put my things into them. But what kind of leader has a room like this?! I remember Leo's room- all tidied up and clean and categorized. Mine? Not so much. More like the chaos theory decided to try itself out in this chamber.
Okay, stop the sit-ups, I need to clean up this mess! If I am not able to have my own room tidy, how am I supposed to go through battles without leaving a mess behind?!

But where to start? Oh man, this is just too much..
First thing I do is putting everything from my shelves to the floor. Now I have room to put everything in in order- but it is harder than I thought since now there is no floor anymore. Everything is everywhere. I grab a bunch of Silver Century Comics nearby and place them where they should be- right in front of my eyes where I can see them whenever I leave and enter the room. Next are the Micky Mouse Comicbooks- yes, I like Micky, I admit it! Then the various magazines and comics that I just have because the covers were nice- where to put these... A cloud of dust escapes from where they have been buried for at least two month now. I have to sneeze and rub my eyes but go on anyway. These go right on top of the shelf- from where another dustcloud attacks me. Man, how do my brothers deal with this regulary??

Finally, I have cleared up an amount of floor big enough to.. stand on it. Great. This can take some time. Just go on to the next bunch of papers and.. EEEWWW!!
Gross factor 10000²!! What the shell is this... Round.. green-grey.. glibberish... thing.. with half-rotten paper around it...
Oh. A Pizza. Wow. This one looks as if it could actually make lots of money at because it has to be a historical peace of food. I wonder if it still tastes okay...

"Michelangelo! What are you doing!"

YIKES! Sensei in my doorframe and I am about to eat a pizza from, like, 1950! Not a good thing for a future ninja leader, I would guess..?

"Uh." Yes, this sure helps to lighten up the situation. "Uh, I tidy up, sensei?"
"You.." Splinter looks around him, his eyeridges so high up if he had hair (other than his fur I mean) they would've disappeared by now. "You tidy up?" He tries not to, but he sounds bemused. I follow his gaze. Oh. Maybe it does not really look like tidied up. Dustclouds are everywhere, and all the things formerly placed in the rags are now on the ground. And I have in my hand some food matching my skin colour that looks as if it wants to eat me anytime soon. Hm.
It is then that Master Splinter lets out a sigh and turnes around. "Wash your hands and come to my room, my son" he insists and leaves. I quickly drop everything (and of course, the pizza lands upside down, just great) and do as I was told. Then I slide through the paperish green doors of sensei's private rooms (not for the first time I notice it's the biggest one we have).

"Sensei?" I ask, approaching him. I then hear the slightest crack from behind my back like wood being walked on and instinctively duck.
Donnie lands right behind me, Bo staff ready and aimed at my head. But he does not attack but instead smirks as he watches something right behind me approaching..
Now I know what is played here. It's a test. Then it's time to turn the table around. (Wow, what an alliteration!!!) Or, you know what I mean. Make it look as if I was testing them.

I duck again and at the same time turn around. With one swift movement I have knocked Raph's legs out under his body and he falls to the ground. The sound is very refreshing to me. "Nice try, Raphael, but too obvious", I mock him. "Donatello, try to control your mimic or else the enemy will foresee what you plan!"
Now comes the hard part. Leo is waiting in the dimly lit room somewhere in the shadows. And if I don't come up with a good idea fast, that will be it with my test.

So, I take two steps backwards and turn on every light in the room.
In an instant, I spot Leo's hiding place which was between the beams of the ceiling. Because as I turned on the light he hid his face with his hands and promptly fell down onto sensei's bed. It is so funny I'd love to laugh out now but I have to play my role until the bitter end.
"Leonardo. Always expect your enemies to do the unexpected. They will not fight fair in battle. Be aware of that fact."
All the time I try my best "strict teacher teaches you a lesson" voice. Once I am finished, I drop my guard though and half expect Leo to make an angry face and Don to laugh and Raph to call me a bonehead. But instead, they just look at me.. startled.
Wow. I must have been really good.
Is this how Leo feels all the time? because if he does, I can SO understand why he refuses to back away and wants to be the leader all the time. Wow.

"Michelangelo" Splinter adresses me from the back of the room and I think okay, funtime is over, here comes the evil warlord and give him a respectful bow just as Leo does all the time. (Okay just as anyone but me does all the time.)
"Very well, my son", sensei wents on and I flinch, just to open my eyes again wide when I take in what he did just say. Very well? I have last heard that when.. Well.. After I boke a cake a month ago. I think.

"I do my best, sensei" I answer automatically. Still, none of my brothers is moving. It starts getting on my nerves though so I do another bow and face our Master again. "Was there some matter to be discussed, sensei?" I add. Wow. Those doctor and samurai movies rock for respectful speech.
"Well, no, my son" Splinter says surprised. I nod and smile the tiniest bit. "Will you excuse me then, I have to order my belongings" I go on. Everyone nods in response and I turn, grab a garbage bag from the kitchen and return to my room. I can hear a startled Raph ask "he tidies up his room?!" and a confused Don murmur something in response, then I am out of hearing radius. And I let the wildest grin spread over my face as I enter my room and laugh, laugh, laugh because this situation is

simply

and

overwhelmingly

wonderful.