Hey brother! There's an endless road to rediscover
Hey sister! Know the water's sweet but blood is thicker
Oh, if the sky comes falling down, for you
There's nothing in this world I wouldn't do
Hey brother! Do you still believe in one another?
Hey sister! Do you still believe in love? I wonder
Oh, if the sky comes falling down, for you
There's nothing in this world I wouldn't do
What if I'm far from home?
Oh brother, I will hear you call!
What if I lose it all?
Oh sister, I will help you hang on!
Oh, if the sky comes falling down, for you
There's nothing in this world I wouldn't do
Hey brother! There's an endless road to rediscover
Hey sister! Do you still believe in love? I wonder
Oh, if the sky comes falling down, for you
There's nothing in this world I wouldn't do
What if I'm far from home?
Oh brother, I will hear you call!
What if I lose it all?
Oh sister, I will help you hang on!
Oh, if the sky comes falling down, for you
There's nothing in this world I wouldn't do
-Avicii, "Hey Brother
Don't tell the gods I left a mess
I can't undo what has been done
Let's run for cover
What if I'm the only hero left
You better fire off your gun
Once and forever
He said go dry your eyes
And live your life like there is no tomorrow, son
And tell the others
To go sing it like a hummingbird
The greatest anthem ever heard:
We are the heroes of our time
But we're dancing with the demons in our minds...
We are the heroes of our time
Heroes
Oh oh oh
We're dancing with the demons in our minds
Heroes, oh oh oh
The crickets sing a song for you
Don't say a word, don't make a sound
It's life's creation
I make worms turn into butterflies
Wake up and turn this world around
In appreciation
He said I never left your side
When you were lost I followed right behind
Was your foundation
Now go sing it like a hummingbird
The greatest anthem ever heard:
We are the heroes of our time
Heroes
Oh, oh, oh
We're dancing with the demons in our minds
Heroes, oh oh oh
(We keep dancing with the demons
You could be a hero)
Go sing it like a hummingbird
The greatest anthem ever heard
Now sing together...
We are the heroes of our time
Heroes
Oh, oh oh
But we're dancing with the demons in our minds
Heroes, oh oh oh
We are the heroes of our time
Heroes
Oh, oh, oh
But we're dancing with the demons in our minds
Heroes
Oh, oh, oh, oh
Hans Zelmerlow - "Heroes"
Chapter Fourteen
Mike found himself cheering, whooping, and shrieking with joy as his sensei passed him again, the discs of pure energy under their feet changing colors. Deciding to show off, Mike flipped upside down and hung there, arms behind his head, staring at his currently magenta skating disc, one that he himself created, here in his mental skate park, in his psychic city, where every street and roof belonged to him.
He was smiling even as the familiar staff lightly struck the top of his head.
"Focus more, my son! I have already scored another point against you."
"Wait, what? No fair! It was only a minute!"
And Splinter hovered in front of him, grinning. "A minute is all it takes, Michelangelo." He nodded toward the floating scoreboard, where Little Mikey perched, swinging his feet.
"Sorry, dude! But you made the rules!" Little Mikey called out.
Sighing, Mike flipped back over and formed another ball of orange energy, moving as fast as he could past Splinter, who quickly formed a gray ball and was almost on top of him. Mike used his natural athletics to his advantage and stretched as far as his lithe body allowed, hurling his ball as hard as possible. It struck the floating, moving wall, which turned blue. The scoreboard lit up.
"Hey, you guys are tied now!" Little Mikey called happily.
Splinter bowed his head, smirking. "Is this even? Or would you like to play for a winning point?"
Mike thought about it. "I think we can call it even. Oh! Dude! Hey, sensei, remember that time when we were kids, and Donnie and I snuck out to see if any new toys had come through the-" and he became more animated, making sure to wave his hands and turn his speech into a cadence, lulling the listener in just a little more. He carefully moved in small circles around his sensei, forcing Splinter's eyes to watch him.
And as Splinter nodded, watching his face, Mike edged just a little closer so his sensei had to look only at his face, and rapidly tossed his orange ball over his shoulder. It struck the wall, which turned blue.
"Oh snap, good trick!" Little Mikey laughed.
Splinter laughed, eyes sparkling. "Excellent, my son. I am glad I lost. Your skills are extremely admirable and creatively stealthy."
Mike grinned, lighting up. "Really?"
"Very much." Splinter put a hand on his head. "Your particular ability to distract is something your brothers rarely use. It is incredibly useful and sought-after in ninjitsu, as you know,."
Mike grinned even wider and a feeling of pure delight burst from him, showing as a blast of yellow light in his aura. "I knew it."
His small counterpart had jumped down and clapped a hand on his shoulder. "See? Bet you feel better."
"Yeah." He ducked his head. "I really do."
"Good, because if there was ever a me that refused to laugh, I'd be way creeped out."
Mike giggled and nodded at that. He remembered feeling extremely creeped out by Donnie's description of his alternative future one-armed self.
"I think, my children, it is time to return to the physical world," Splinter cut in, leaning on his cane. "Your brothers are getting worried."
Mike pouted a little. Splinter had seen almost everything in his astral world, even the locked door holding Mike's fears and desperation, drab colors that were so thick that they needed an outlet, like the cutting, like the fighting and hurting. Splinter had seen all the bad parts and had actually taken his hand, holding it throughout, not letting go until there was no more scariness to show, and even then, not until Mike had started working on the first of their games. Even then, all the little touches, the brushes of fur and whiskers, like a consistent reassurance, I am here, I am with you, keep going and the encouraging as the psychic city streets grew brighter and wider.
But he had a point. Mike honestly didn't know how long they had been. He rubbed his wrists; they were itching, but there was no urge to make himself bleed.
"Little Me?" When he looked over, Little Mikey was already glowing blue, with gold-orange edging his aura. "Hold hands," and Little Mikey's grin was a solar flare.
Donnie understood that stress was bad. Donnie understood that constantly worrying caused more stress. Donnie wasn't about to give up coffee or energy drinks. Because Donnie had Mikey. Mikey was like his calm happy charging station. Mikey soothed his brothers even as he irritated them. Mikey was a walking beam of sunshine.
Mikey, who was giggling behind his bandaged hands, along with older Mike and Master Splinter, and Donnie felt his whole body sag with relief as Older Don checked Mikey over frantically, his hands like hummingbirds. Donnie sat on the edge of the bed and smiled at his baby brother, who gave him a strong grin. Older Don mentioned that they could "probably" remove all the bandages and keep them off, so long as Mikey didn't strain himself. The two Michelangelos grinned at each other and seemed to be holding a telepathic conversation. Donnie bit his lip and helped his counterpart cut the gauze.
By the time they were done, Mikey was covered only in scars, but they appeared fully closed. Mikey stared at his limbs, turning them over, as if inspecting them. "Bishop is more, um, thorough than the Alchemist," he said finally, without emotion.
Donnie flinched. And then a thought came. "Hey, what about your sphere of happy, Mikey? Can you draw from that?"
Big Mike and Splinter turned and looked at him. "Wait," Big Mike said, "You mean that glowy ball that kept following us around the astral plane?"
"Yeah," Mikey said. "I guess." He pressed his hands together, and when he pulled them apart the sphere was there.
Donnie gaped.
"Holy shit, are you kidding?" Raph gasped. "Since when could you pull it into the real world?"
Mikey just shrugged. "Couple of months, I guess. Gaia showed me, she said Freya taught her, I dunno. You all want in?"
The older counterparts were owl-eyed, mouths open, eyes shining. Mikey smirked, and rays of light stretched out through his fingers, sweeping around the lab. Donnie closed his eyes and shivered as it touched him, and what he could only describe as blissful joy coursed through his mind. He forgot why he was worried.
Older Raph's voice was almost a whisper. "This. Is. The greatest thing. In my life."
There was complete silence for several moments, and Donnie couldn't think. He couldn't…for the first time, no thoughts flew through his head, racing to one end or another. There was the most indescribable sense of kindness and peace and every tense muscle relaxed. He felt a hand grab his, recognized it as Leo, felt Leo tremble the way he assumed he was.
When it was done, when the light was gone, Donnie lifted his head and exhaled. He very casually glanced around.
Raph was sitting on the floor, head between his knees. Splinter hand one hand on Little Mikey's shoulder and the other on Older Mikey's arm, and the expression on his face was of extraordinary calm. The older Leo, Raph, and Don were staring at each other in utter shock. Donnie couldn't see Older Mikey's face, but he could see how his head was lowered, his eyes closed.
Puzzled by the utter silence, he crouched next to Raph and embraced him with one arm. He wasn't surprised to see tears in Raph's eyes, a small, relieved smile on his face.
Movement startled him, and as Donnie pulled Raph up, he hear low murmurs. Older Mike had gotten up and was shakily walking out of the infirmary, out of the lab, and still Donnie couldn't see his face. But when he looked at Big Mike's brothers, who shared expressions of worry and doubt, he wondered, and from the way Raph squeezed his arm, he wasn't the only one.
Leo watched his baby brother's counterpart leave them all wordlessly, and he looked at Mikey, who was watching the bigger turtle go with a serene expression. His hands were folded on his lap, his eyes were half-closed, and the set of his mouth was the only thing that gave away the fact that he was concentrating.
In the distance a door slammed.
"Um," Raph said.
"It's okay," Mikey said suddenly, in the calmest voice Leo had ever heard. "I got this."
And he slowly, slowly swung his legs over the side of the medical bed, and Older Don caught him just as he stood up shakily.
"Where do you think you're doing?" Olderig Don asked, but calmly.
Everyone was calm.
"To his room," Mikey replied. "So we can talk."
Older Don stepped back very reluctantly. "Okay. Okay. But someone is taking you there."
Without a word, Older Raph stepped up and quickly swept Mikey off his feet before anyone could say anything. Mikey only shrugged and slung his arms around Older Raph's shoulders, smiling as he rested his head on Big Raph's bicep. Leo bit his lip. Mikey looked so small…
After they had left, Older Leo looked at Leo, and even as his eyes narrowed, his body was loose and soft; the spell was still winding through the room, the tranquility from Mikey's carefree psychic energy still leaving them all more relaxed than they probably knew what to do with. Leo hadn't even known Mikey could do that and—
"That was interesting," was all his counterpart said. Leo nodded. It was more than that, they all knew it, but Leo didn't need to say anything else. Older Leo was already turning on his meditation face, anyway. Quickly, Leo said, "Hey, why don't we go to the dojo and spar for a while?" He nodded to Older Don as he spoke.
He loved the way the older turtles' eyes lit up. He felt Donnie grin, and even though Raph was staring at the open lab door, he could feel the smirk.
Raphael had, in his younger years, made it a very pointed point to keep as many emotions pushed down as possible, even the safe ones. Anger was the strongest, so anger always broke through, and soon became the safest, because it was the outlet for war, which they had been training for their entire lives. And then he started forgetting that anger wasn't actually safe, and guess who bore the brunt of that turning their teen years, who always grinned at him no matter loud he yelled or how hard he hit, who always said there would be sun shining through no matter how dark it got?
It was, however, effective. It slowed him down. It calmed him down. It made him think. After the consequences, but naturally.
Hefting the startingly lightweight other-dimensional kid in his arms, Raph pounded on his brother's door. When he was greeted with silence, Raph felt a growl in his belly, but Little Mikey's tap against the side of his head stopped him. "He's meditating. We can go in."
Shrugging, Raph pushed open the door with his foot and walked in. "Special delivery," he announced, and then he actually looked.
Mike was sitting on his bed cross-legged, hands on his knees, eyes closed. He opened one eye and smiled lightly. "Just put him next to me."
Raph handled the little one like porcelain, despite the rolled eyes and the pout. When Little Mikey was settled, arms crossed, Raph knelt directly in front of his own brother and put a hesitant hand on his brother's knee. "Mike, look…"
Mike opened his eyes and blinked at him. Raph frowned. His expression was slightly unfocused and yet oddly targeted, and Raph started to feel something dart through his mind like a minnow.
"Um. I wanted to…I just wanted to make sure you were okay, y'know?" That little wriggle in the back of his head moved to the front, and was suddenly gone completely.
"I'm okay, Raphie," and Mikey leaned down and pressed his forehead to Raph's. "I promise. I'll tell you when I'm not."
"You'd betta." And Raph scowled his usual scowl but it was softened because he was still so relaxed from whatever the kid had done in the lab and nothing really mattered but how good it felt to not have tension.
"Who else would I trust?" and Mike's smile was very soft and only for him, and Raph found himself sighing in unexpected thrilled relief. He got up and left the room without looking back, not even when Freckles started saying something that sounded serious.
"Just so you know," Little Mikey said, "this doesn't mean we're back at square one."
Mike's shoulders slumped, despite the rush of tranquility still flooding him like a drug. "I'm sorry," he muttered, "I'm just…I knew you'd feel it."
"Well, yeah, duh. You should see the trauma I went through after the first coma. I couldn't stop screaming every time I slept. I'll probably be screaming again for a while."
Mike flinched and wanted to curl up against his pillow. He adjusted his pose until he was facing his younger counterpart, his eyes roaming across the landscape of scars. Little Mikey was smiling gently, his eyes, as always, kind.
"I think," Little Mikey said, "that we should bring your brothers in. They can see what you've been up to."
Mike bit his lip. "I don't know if I'm ready…"
"They are. They've been waiting. I've been feeling it."
Mike stared down at his hands. "I burned down a whole island. I made a building explode."
"Yeah, with raw force. You pulled it back. You're a super fast learner."
Mike coughed out a humorless laugh. "Fast learner. Hah."
"Hey," Little Mikey grinned. "I'm the one with learning disabilities. You mostly needed the right motivation and inspiration."
Mike rested his chin in his hands. "I suppose. I wonder how Donnie would be with the hover game I made up."
"Dude, he'd love it."
Little Mikey leaned forward and grabbed his wrists, pulling his hands down and squeezing them. "Really. It'll be okay. I promise, Big Me. Everything's still here."
He sighed. "I'll remember that."
As they began the meditation and telepathic travel into the white place, Mike recalled the worried look in Raph's eyes as he set Little Mikey down on his bed, and he held on to it.
"And now," Little Mikey said, "we're gonna meditate. And we're gonna go to the white place. And clean stuff up. And maybe hang out with my girlfriend and a couple of weird gods. And you'll be okay."
Mike nodded, relieved. He'd be okay. He could face his brothers later..
It was later.
As their bodies sat in the dojo, Mikey grinned and led his brothers on a merry chase through his counterpart's mental world until they caught up with the others, who were already heavily involved in the game, bright spheres flying and bouncing off the ever-moving wall. Growls and cheers and taunts filled the air. Older Mike was wearing a huge grin on his face, eyes narrowed, spinning widely around his brothers, scoring more points than they could even see.
"Don't say it!" Older Raph snarled. "Don't you say, it Mike…"
"You're just jealous because I'm the…"
"Noooo…"
"Battle Nexus Champion!"
'GOD DAMN IT, THAT'S IT."
And the two brothers were wrestling in mid-air, letting out good-natured snarls, grabbing limbs and faces and shells. The older Leo and Don hung back, rolling their eyes, but keeping sharp focus in case the hothead and the comedian actually hurt each other. Mikey sat on his bright orange skating disc, legs crossed chin in his hands. Rotating upright, Older Raph and Older Mike stared at each other. And then, they began slapping each other in the gentle, soft, open-handed swatting of comedies, grunting weakly. Both Leonardos began laughing hard enough to wobble their discs.
"WIMPS!" Donnie yelled, and Older Donnie almost fell off his disc, holding his sides.
"HE STARTED IT," Older Mike pouted, and suddenly split his dark orange disc in two, one for each foot. In a figure skating flip, he rotated over Raphael's head, smacked the back of his head, and took off, legs pumping the discs on his feet bright blurs. Growling higher in his throat, Older Raph tried to split his disc and couldn't, so he pushed through the air, picking up speed in the chase. Mikey considered splitting the disc for him into roller discs but he was having too much fun. Besides, it was Michelangelo's world. Mikey held up his hands and began counting, and as he hit four, Raph's frustrated yell was heard. Mikey cackled.
"He's in a bubble," Mikey giggled when the others turned to stare at him. "Mike blocked him with a bubble and stuck him in it."
There was a collective groan. As Mike was skating back into view, followed by a POP and a visibly frustrated Raph, Mikey clapped his hands and split everyone's discs into individual roller discs.
"Got you now!" Older Raph launched himself at Older Mike, who squealed, then let out a piercing shriek when all that muscle landed on him, overpowering and gripping him. Like a cat, he began to kick at Raph's plastron, and then in a blur, moved his arms and flexed his wrists and shoved Older Raphael away, who spun out of control and crashed into Older Don, who caught him with a yell and flailed.
Older Leo rushed Mike, who effortlessly ducked and gently spun to the side, lashing out to tag Leo on the side of the head.
Then the weapons came out, and so did the predatory smiles.
Mikey widened his eyes, giving his Leo a pleading look. Leo grinned, reaching for his katana. Mikey whipped out his own 'chucks, waiting for Raph and Donnie to follow. As the older Leo and Mike circled each other, Older Raph and Don realized what was happening and had their weapons out in a second.
And soon Mikey completely forgot who was supposed to spar with whom. They switched often. It didn't actually matter. He noticed that Older Mike wasn't even using telekinesis, so he didn't use his. Older Mike was simply applying nothing but pure skill. And Mikey watched as the older turtles grew shocked, stunned, confused, and then amazed. Older Leonardo looked extremely impressed and Older Raphael seemed proud. Mikey sighed, relieved. Good. Mike wasn't showing off, holding back, flaunting, or slowing himself down at all. He was outmatching his brothers, and they were proud.
When he came face to face with his counterpart, summer blue eyes glinting, he didn't even think. They mirrored each other as they put their nunchaku in their holsters and allowed the blue electric glow to overtake them. Nunchaku made of indigo energy crackled into existence, and Mikey was the first one to spin and take the first shot. Older Mike struck a half-second later, and the air crackled as the telekinetic weapons smacked against each other.
The others paused, then completely stopped, watching in silent awe.
When Older Mike changed his weapon into a bokken, Mikey followed, and the battle raged all over the sky. They were so equally matched that Mikey worried there wouldn't be any variances in creativity. Then he realized that his agility and stealth were better, while older Mike's strength and speed were more refined.
Mikey began to incorporate dances moves; ballet and capoeira. Mike broke out a frightening blend of concentrated strength and speed. Mikey felt a wind whip around them and pushed all of his senses into the fight. Somewhere in the mix, he heard Older Raph mutter "No fucking way. I didn't even know he could do that!" and Older Don answered, "He really has been holding back quite a bit all these years."
Older Leo was silent. Mikey could easily sense his astonished pride, and a great deal of wounded guilt.
Mikey didn't know who stopped first, but he found himself completely still, panting, gripping his bokken tightly, teeth bared. A couple of feet away, Older Mike was a mirror.
Older Mike smiled very slowly, and his glow began to spread until it was all Mikey could see. He shut his eyes.
When he looked up, he was in the dojo. Everyone was blinking and breathing hard. Mikey swallowed and looked at his counterpart.
Older Mike was sweating profusely, shaking, eyes half-closed. At some point, he had folded over, legs straightening, arms tucked in and hugging his midsection. A jolt of alarm shot up Mikey's spine, and the immediate sense of crackling electric fog slammed into him like a train.
This must be what it felt like. This must be…
No wonder his brothers seemed so terrified…
He heard himself cry, "Help him!" and he sprang to his feet, as the older Mike fell onto his side, muscles all along his body contracting, spasm after spasm and Mikey's head was starting to pound.
Older Leo was the first, like the wind, scooping his brother into his arms, kneeling, placing Older Mike's head on his thighs. His hand went to the smaller turtle's neck, fingers pressed to the pulse point.
Older Don was there with Older Raph at his heels, crouched around them, and their voices were low. Mikey stood there, knowing he couldn't do anything, and he felt his own brothers surround him, hands on his shoulders, Donnie slipping a hand into his, nudging him, his thoughts full of Now you get it and Mikey just nodded mutely. Never again was he going to wave his family away for freaking out after he had seizures.
Three minutes later, Older Raphael jumped up and ran from the dojo. Mikey tilted his head, watching the older Don and Leo murmur to a blinking, glassy-eyed older Mike, who was panting and pale. Older Don was stroking his forehead while Older Leo was carefully palpating his arms and torso. Older Raph returned with a bottle of Gatorade, a protein shake, and a pillow and blanket. He helped Mike drink slowly, propped against Older Leo, and Mikey watched his counterpart slide his wide, foggy eyes to him.
S'okay, right? And Older Mike's mental voice held a vibrating tremble.
It's okay, he reassured, although he paused. Was it okay? He had no idea how to help when it was somebody else. He'd had plenty of seizures alone and he knew all the aftercare procedures, but he'd never thought about seeing someone else go through one. Let alone a trans-dimensional counterpart. Man, I am an idiot, he thought. I never bothered to figure that crap out.
He felt someone nudge him, and Raph was frowning at him; there was deep worry in his eyes. Mikey frowned back. He shrugged. Raph then nudged his mind.
Hey, what if he's…overloading? Raph's thoughts were full of bewilderment. Mikey bit the inside of his cheek and considered. And then it hit him.
"Oh! OH shit, okay." And everyone watched him as he scooted to his counterpart, placing a hand on his chest. He looked at those still startingly familiar ocean blue eyes, which were dilated and dull. Mikey watched as the pupils shrank to nothing as Older Mike stared back at him, breathing a little shakily.
"What?" Older Don asked. "What is it?"
"Overload," Mikey said, as if it were a eureka moment. "He pushed himself using so much power that it…it, like, overwhelmed him, does that make sense?"
Older Don nodded. "It certainly does. Are these seizures going to be fairly regular now?" And at that, the Older Raph looked suddenly terrified, cupping Older Mike's face in a large hand.
Mikey bit his lip and nodded reluctantly. "Um, the whole M'Kari thing, they developed epilepsy like a side effect? I think? Donnie, what's that about again?"
He listened to Donnie get up and stand behind him. "Since the psionics affect the whole-brain circuitry," Donnie said, "a slip-up will make a neurological impact in the form of the brain misfiring, setting off excitable neurons, which will lead to a migraine or seizure. Sometimes both." He rested his hands on Mikey's shoulders. "The M'Kari couldn't fix that even if they wanted to. Epilepsy was pretty much the global weakness. All they could do was manage it."
Older Leo held his own youngest brother closer, more tightly. "Okay. Okay, we can work with that. April can get us a prescription if need be."
"Prescription for what?" Older Mike said shakily. "I'm not having them every day," right?"
"No, hopefully," Older Donnie said. "But medication to manage and prevent epilepsy itself needs to be taken every day. I want to say we could manage it on our own, with teas and with katas and meditation techniques. But I don't want to risk it not being enough."
Older Mike pouted and twisted in Leo's hold, trying to sit up on his own. Older Leo slowly let him go, but his eyes looked sad.
"I'm sorry, Mikey," he whispered.
"Wha?" Older Mike whipped his head around. "Why?"
Older Leo looked at the floor. "For pushing you. For being so hard on you. I sensed your raw potential all this time. I wanted you to use it. I kept getting frustrated when you held yourself back."
Mike raised an eyebrow. "I did it for you. So you wouldn't feel overshadowed."
Older Leo nodded. "I know that now. I mean, I actually realize that. I shouldn't have been such a jerk about it. You went so far that your behavior started changing to fit why you wouldn't let all your talent out."
"Uh, I was a self-centered jerk and I bragged about being awesome."
"Yes, but you did it to hide the real reasons," Older Leo countered. "You really were awesome, you just pulled back and relied on flamboyance and charisma, to ensure that we, your brothers, looked better as ninjas. I understand now." He grabbed Mike's hand and squeezed it. "You don't need to, okay?"
Older Mike stared at him silently, and his mouth opened. Slowly, he nodded. There were tears in his eyes.
Mikey, on his end, felt unbelievably grateful.
Raph could feel tension leaving the dojo like a stiff breeze. The older counterparts seemed to close in on themselves as they huddled. Mikey and Donnie came back, and Raph and Leo stood up. "Maybe we should give them space," Raph suggested. He no longer felt that cold grip of worry; it had vanished as soon as the older Leonardo had started talking.
On the living room couches sat Splinter, April, and Casey. Splinter rose to face them. "My students," he said, "is everything well?"
"Yes, sensei," Leo nodded. "Michelangelo – your son – had a seizure, but he's all right. They're all in there talking now. I guess Leonardo and Michelangelo needed to have a chat."
Master Splinter bowed his head. "Yes. I am glad for that."
A few noises came through the paper walls, what sounded like crying. But Mikey was smiling happily. "Awww, Raphie loves him. Awww." A pause. Then, "Hah, Don is apologizing for thinking Mike's mask was on too tight and cutting off the oxygen to his brain. I think you guys have said that to me!"
Raph wasn't smiling. Out of the corner of his eye he saw Donnie shuffle his foot. He cleared his throat and put his arm around his baby brother. "I dunno about you guys, but I'm starving."
"We brought pizza," Casey piped up.
"I ain't waiting for those losers!" and Raph hopped the couch, grinning as he landed on the plushest cushion. He felt his brothers sit next to him, Mikey close to his side. They bumped shoulders. Raph grabbed a slice of pepperoni and chewed mindlessly. Thank gods he was no longer uncomfortable; at least the other Mike would figure out how to not explode things. That was all he wanted.
"I'm thinking," Donnie was saying, "that maybe tomorrow we can try figuring out the portal to get home."
Mikey snapped out of his reverie to listen. At the same time, their counterparts came into the living room and sat for their meal. Older Don raised his slice to Donnie. "That's a fine idea. I've learned how to tune in to your dimension. Now it's a question of your side knowing when to open their portal.
"I'll ask Gaia," Mikey said around his mouthful of third slice. He swallowed and smiled at them all. "We've been chatting in the white place. Turns out her reach is so long that she can open the portal and hold it for a while! Pretty cool."
"Wouldn't that be painful?" April queried.
"Yeah, after a while," Mikey said. "But not enough to stop her. No matter how much Master Splinter glares. I think she offers to brush him if he backs off."
"All right, then," said Older Don. "Sensei, I know it seems safer to have them here a little longer, but I think getting them home as soon as we can would be best."
Splinter bowed his head. "You are correct. As much as I enjoy having the children with us, recovering well, returning them to their home world is vital. How are you feeling, young Michelangelo?"
Mikey paused, staring down at himself. Scars everywhere glared at him, and the fresh one on his left leg looked so raw that a brief flash of pain shook him. He heard Bishop laughing.
And then, Older Mike's voice was in his head. It's okay, Little Me, I'm here. You're safe. He's dead. Remember? Raphie and I killed him.
Mikey felt the coldness of the saw blade. What if he comes back for you?
He won't. He fucking won't. Even if he slithered back to life at the bottom of the ocean, he's never gonna bother us again. I'll smash his face in if he tries. A dozen times.
Breathing in slowly, Mikey let himself smile. "I'm okay," he said softly. "I mean, I'll be okay."
That's my boy. We'll get through this. They'll help us.
When Mike projected a firm image of their sets of brothers, standing side by side, like soldiers on a field, surrounding the two of them, Mikey almost cried in relief.
They would get through this. They would be okay.
(Author's Note: I have a lot of Complicated Feelings about the 2003 4Kids series, especially once Season 4 began. With the exception of a couple of episodes like 'Grudge Match', the show seemed to treat Mikey like a boastful insensitive comic relief, bloating his ego. It was frustrating and made it hard for me to watch. Thus, here is my attempt at "redeeming" the self-centered character he was written as. I imagine a lot of depth and darkness inside, surrounded by a lot of sunshine and nurturing and endless loving kindness. A lot of fanfic authors write 2003 Michelangelo as having a massive ego with not much depth, proudly annoying and careless. I don't enjoy that. I still feel embarrassed for him. But I am personally biased, after all. I've watched his character move and grow through a dozen incarnations. I've been with him for 28 years, and the headcanons are strong.)