Edited 2/17/16
"You know Sensei said dat we're da only ones like us." Raph said before crossing his arms and staring down his littler and assumably younger brother.
Mikey visibly deflated from his brother's comment. Raph had a way of making him feel small. He could easily out talk and out strength his youngest brother. Leo of course was always good at everything and never seemed to get into trouble. Then again Oto-chan also always talked about how smart Don was. The small turtle hugged his arms to himself, looking down at the ground. Mikey often felt small compared to his brothers. He was just barely physically bigger than Donnie, but the next youngest's smarts easily knocked him down a leg. Then both Leo and Raphael had a physical and talent edge over him. He wasn't particularly good at anything, besides bothering his brothers, and they were often too busy to play with him…
"But… but what if Oto-san's wrong?" Don asked, his mind already buzzing with the possibilities of a world with others who were like them. What if there were mutants on the surface all along? What if they had homes and stores and jobs? What if there was a school for mutants? He'd wanted to go to school since the first day his father brought a small television in their lives when the four turtles were nearly three years old. Said TV had already been replaced a few times since, but the small turtle would never forget seeing his first "back to school" ad. His mind buzzed with questions that he immediately took to his father. He bewildered and entranced by the prospect of schools. Places for children to learn all that they could. It was actually Don's enthusiasm that prompted his Oto-san to begin swiping old workbooks and textbooks from the nearby elementary school, but only the ones that were going to be sent to the recycling center anyway. He had insisted it was just another form of recycling.
It's not like Donatello was going to complain about how his father had obtained his new, precious books.
"Would ya guys shut it?" Raph barked, "Dere ain't no otha's like us. Sensei said so."
"It doesn't matter either way," Leo chimed in, "We have to find Splinter-sensei before worrying about anything else. He's probably out there looking for us too."
Don and Mikey looked at each other, both hopeful and disappointed before nodding in agreement.
Family always comes first.