Thankees for the reviews. ;) They make me very very happy. Well, time for the next chapter.


Comics and video games were played an important role in Michelangelo's life.

There were many reasons for this. Firstly, they were fun and they were a good way to relax after a long tiring training session with Master Splinter. Secondly, they allowed Mikey to escape the outside world and enter one where he didn't have to worry about upcoming events that would cause him to look like an idiot. He could pretend to be someone else when he was reading about superheroes. He wasn't the brother caught in the middle of Leo and Raph's arguments. He wasn't the turtle being laughed at by his family. He was the Silver Sentry, the Turtle Titan and at times, Mario. It sounded stupid, but Mikey sometimes found that the world of superheroes was better than the one he was born in.

"Michelangelo?" Leonardo opened the door to Mikey's room before closing it gently behind him. The youngest turtle didn't bother to look up from his Gameguy and continued to try to beat his high score. Leo took a step towards him, a concerned look on his face. "Mikey? What's up? You didn't eat any of your breakfast. Also, you didn't laugh when Sensei's robe got stuck in the door and ripped down the back."

"I'm not hungry," Mikey mumbled, turning his back on Leo. "And if you found that funny, then shame on you. You're supposed to be setting a good example."

The blue masked turtle sighed before making his way over to his brother.

Michelangelo's room was as messy as Leonardo remembered. He had a pile of pillows placed on top of his bedside table, most likely covering his new alarm clock that their master refused to let Mikey to dispose of. Michelangelo had so many comic books that they didn't all fit into his closet and many could be seen spotted around on the carpet. His action figures weren't in sight, but Leo knew that they were in a box under his brother's bed. The room was in darkness, so Leo decided to turn the lights on. He played with the light switch before realizing that the lights were broken. Klunk was on the carpet, chewing on one of Mikey's nunchucks. When the cat saw Leonardo, he wrapped himself around Leo's ankle.

"Hey there," Leo murmured, bending down to stroke Klunk. He could feel Mikey's eyes burning into the back of his head, so Leo remained where he was. If Michelangelo wished to talk about what was bothering him, then he would do it on his own free will. Leo knew what it felt like to have people badgering you about your emotions, and he didn't want to have to inflict that feeling onto his brother. Klunk jumped onto Leo's neck, draping himself around the turtle like he was a scarf. "Has Mikey been remembering to feed you?"

Klunk meowed.

"He has? That's nice to know." Leo smiled, tickling Klunk behind the ear. He looked up at Michelangelo to see his reaction to the scene. The pair locked eyes for a moment, but Mikey just turned away from him with his arms crossed. Leonardo sighed, placing his gaze back on the ginger cat. "Have you met any nice lady cats recently, or are you enjoying the free life of a bachelor?"

Klunk meowed again.

"You reckon you're too young to be thinking about these things?" Leo remarked. "Well, I suppose you're right. I suspect relationships would tie you down a bit, huh?"

Mikey put his hands against the sides of his head, growling slightly. Then, he turned his head around and glared at his eldest brother. "What the shell Leo? Did you just come here to flirt with Klunk or something?"

"Mikey!" Leonardo widened his eyes in mock surprise. "I didn't see you there!"

"Whatever, bro." Mikey turned off his game and put it down on his pile of pillows. "You know, I'm only stopping because it's interesting to see you flirting with Klunk."

"I wasn't flirting with him!" Leo unwrapped Klunk from around his neck and put him on Mikey's laps. "I was just having a conversation with him. Seeing as, you know," Leo put his arm behind his head, standing up straight, "you were busy playing with your game console."

Michelangelo raised his brow. "I'm not anymore. So what do you want? Can't you see I don't want to talk?"

"Yeah." Leonardo looked for a clear space on the floor so he could sit down. When he saw that each inch of the carpet was covered with something, he kicked aside some comics and created a clear space. He sat down, resting his chin on his hands. Mikey couldn't help but notice that Leo looked a lot weaker and older than he actually was. "I just wanted to see how you were doing. You were really quiet at breakfast… too quiet to go unnoticed."

"Really? Because no one else seemed to notice, not even Master Splinter," Mikey mumbled, turning around completely and dangling his legs off the edge of his bed, "and Sensei has x-ray vision or something."

"Of course Sensei noticed your peculiar behaviour." Leonardo rolled his eyes, much to Mikey's annoyance. "He's the one who suggested I come see how you were in the first place." So he wasn't being the caring older brother then. He was acting on his Master's orders. Mikey scowled, looking at his Game Guy. "Donnie and Raph saw that there was something up with you too. Raphael says that your little girlfriend dumped you or something."

"Ha ha ha." Mikey frowned. "Not."

Leo sighed. "I can't imagine what's bothering you. It's not like you lied about having a girlfriend or something. Now, that would be something to worry about."

Mikey groaned, burying his face in his hands. Leonardo raised one of his fingers so it was hanging next to his head. "You… don't have a girlfriend, do you?" Mikey shook his head, not raising it to look at his brother. Leo took a deep breath, trying not to laugh. He didn't know what there was to laugh about, but he found the situation… unusual, though strangely Michelangelo-like. "Oh dear, Mike. What have you gotten yourself into?"

"Two and a half days, bro," Mikey removed his left hand from underneath his face and held up two fingers, "and then I face the most epic fail of my life."

Leo smiled. Mikey had used the word 'epic' and 'fail' in the same sentence, which meant that not all hope was lost.

"Come on, no one's expecting you to bring a girl home," Leo comforted him. "Donnie's even planned to set up a camera so when you enter the lair, it will automatically take a picture of you with your so-called 'girlfriend'. Or, I should say, lack of girlfriend. They'd be surprised if you did have a partner with you."

"I suppose," Mikey mumbled, lifting his head slightly. "It's just… I'm not looking forward to it."

"I know you aren't," Leo stood up and sat next to his brother, giving his shoulder a comforting squeeze, "but like Master Splinter says, all things must pass." He sighed at the expression on his brother's face. "So basically, Raph and Don won't use this against you forever and time will pass and this will be soon forgotten."

"Raph will tell every girlfriend I get and it'll make me sound like a big desperate loser," Mikey pulled a strained face, "and no one likes desperate losers. That's why Don gets attached to practically every female we meet. He's desperate to be loved, but everyone just turns their back on him."

"That's because he's a nice person, Mike, not because he's desperate," Leo snapped, though he didn't look too sure. "Anyway, the point is you're going to have to face up to your lie. It's better to get it over with soon, then in many years to come."

"Many years from now sounds good."

"Mikey..." Leo glared at him, though he was relieved Mikey had regained his sense of humour. "Look, I understand completely that you want to avoid your problem… but that doesn't make it go away." The sad edge to the tone of his voice grabbed Michelangelo's attention. He stopped mentally planning his escape to Mexico and gave his brother his full attention.

"Dude, you're saying that from experience, aren't you?" Mikey put his arm around his brother.

"Yes. No." Leo, who had been sitting up straight, leant forwards and rested his elbows on his thighs. He gave his brother a sideways glance. "I don't know. My mind can't really come to any conclusions. I sat in my room for weeks in an attempt to find answers, but I came to nothing."

"Hey, maybe I could help?" Mikey grinned. If he couldn't find a way out of his mess, he thought that he may as well attempt to help his brother.

"Yeah… you're really a reliable psychologist, aren't you?" Leo replied sarcastically.

"Oh come on, I bet a psychologist isn't necessary." Mikey gave Leo a noogie, which caused the eldest brother to complain in protest. Mikey stopped, smiling goofily. "So let everything that's been on your chest for ages escape and reveal itself to the world." Michelangelo raised a fist into the air, bringing his body with it, and struck a heroic pose. He flexed his muscles, his eyes glittering.

"Okay, Armstrong, enough with the posing." Leo grabbed hold of Mikey's leg and pulled the turtle back to his level. "If you want to listen to what I have to say, I want you to take me seriously."

"I am taking this situation seriously!"

"Sure you are." Leo caught sight of the Gameguy in Mikey's hands. He snatched it and put it to one side. "I'm doing this to make you feel better about yourself, not because I really want to. I'm only going to say this once, so listen carefully. I don't want to say anything twice." After seeing that Mikey was listening, he said, "When I was… possessed a while back, I had… I knew what was happening."

Michelangelo nodded slowly. "Uh huh…" He didn't know if he should say anything, or if he should just remain silent and let his brother continue. He decided on the latter option.

"I kept having these flashes… these visions of what I think happened. Each time I closed my eyes, I entered a kind of theatre and I was forced to watch what I, the alien, was doing." Leo paused, giving Mikey time to take in what he had said. Or, he was waiting for himself to take in what he had said. "And… I saw myself hurting you guys… and I couldn't do anything about it." His face paled, and Mikey could feel the bed trembling. "I wanted to wake up and stop myself from trying to destroy you, but that Yasmin had trapped me within my mind. So I had to watch each of you suffer in my hands."

Michelangelo widened his eyes, his face nearly as pained as his brother's. Leonardo leaned forward more so his forehead was nearly resting on his knees. "And whenever I try to tell you guys what's the matter with me, everything comes flowing back. It's just too hard to forget about it."

Mikey pulled his brother into a hug, rubbing the back of Leo's head. "Dude, you gotta stop bottling your emotions up like that! Raph tries to do that, but it just comes out in uncontrollable bursts. See, that's what's been happening to you."

"I know," Leo moaned, shaking Mikey off him. "I can't help but try to be strong for you guys, and that involves showing as little emotion as possible."

"Emotions don't make you weak, bro. Man, you need to loosen up and live life to the max," Mikey said, moving his arms slowly. "You can't keep letting your pride crush you. Bad things happen."

"But how can I 'loosen up'?" Leonardo asked him sadly. "It doesn't exactly come naturally to me."

Michelangelo thought for a moment, before putting his arm around his brother. He grinned darkly. "Oh, I know a way to do that and it will help me as well. Like Sensei says, hit two birds with one stone." He began to chuckle, which caused Leo to laugh nervously with him.

He didn't like the sound of Mikey's 'plan'.


What is Mikey's plan? o.o Well, I know what it is, and there's a good chance you do. If you didn't read It's Within Us All and have no idea what Leo's going on about... he got possessed by the alien from 'Darkness Within' and tried to enslave the world. Not a nice feeling.

Oh, and the 'Armstrong' reference was Armstrong from Full Metal Alchemist. He strikes awesome poses and sparkles.