Mikey

"MIKEY!"

Man, no one ever says my name in a lower register anymore.

I recoiled into the bean bag, shielding my face with my comic book from Raphael's wrath as if the paper could protect me. I could hear my older brother storming out of the kitchen and into the pit of our lair. I couldn't see him, but I imagined steam pouring out of his nostrils like in cartoons, his eyes red and veiny. Suddenly, my comic was ripped from my hands, and I was forced to meet his irritated gaze, which I was familiar with. When was Raph not staring at me like this? His green eyes meant business. I knew what this was about.

"Mikey, did you take the last energy blast drink?" Raph asked.

"What? No," I nonchalantly lied, roosting into the beanbag with my arms folding behind my head.

Raph's eyes darted to the floor next to my seat. "Oh yeah?" He bent down and picked up a crushed can I had forgotten to throw away.

Heh, heh, oops. Busted.

I immediately collected myself with a mischievous smile at my brother in red. "Woah, dude, that's totally insane! I told you guys the sewers were haunted, but no one ever believes the Mikester."

Suddenly, Raph has me by the torso, and I'm lifted from my seat. I know the gig is up, and I gulp nervously.

"You little thief! How many times have we told you that those energy drinks aren't for you?" he yelled, his angry breath blowing back my orange mask tails.

"I don't understand that stupid rule anyway," I muttered.

"It's because we don't want to deal with you all fueled up on caffeine!" Raph's eyes narrowed as I started chuckling.

"Ooohh, I get it. Like how you're not allowed to eat beans because you—" I was cut off as Raph threw me against the nearest wall, well, the giant entrance to Donnie's lab. I landed upside-down on my head with my shell against the wall. I looked up at my irate brother; his angry frown looked like a sadistic smile from the upturned view. I laughed at that.

Raph raised his hands as if choking an invisible man at the sight of my laughing. "Oh, that's it, Mikey. You're toast!"

Before he could charge, the door to the laboratory door groaned open, and I slumped entirely on my shell. My immediate older brother poked his head out with a stoic look, looking down at me and then Raph.

"What's this about?" he demanded.

"Mikey drank the last energy blast!" Raph tattled.

Donatello acquainted his palm with his face, dragging it down until his skin pulled down with it. "Great," he dragged out dryly, "tonight's recon mission should be fun."

"Come on, bros. I can handle one little energy blast," I said as I picked myself up.

"Yeah, just like you can handle my knuckles bashing your hollow skull in," Raph said, flexing his fingers until I heard popping.

My eyes widened as I nervously moved back. "But-but, I can't handle that!"

"That's the point, nimrod. Now come 'ere!" Raph charged at me with all his speed. I'm not talking about the kind of speed he would use to beat me to the kitchen, but the speed he would use trying to catch a Foot soldier. This was when I realized he was serious about sending me to pound town, as he called it. I let out a shrill squeal, praying Sensei would hear me from the dojo and stop this imminent murder. Lucky for me, I was just a little quicker than Raph. Perks of being the smallest and most agile of my brothers.

I kept my cool, leaping and using Raph's shoulders to flip myself over him. I touched down and attempted to bolt to my room with my heart thrashing in my rib cage. Raph's big feet were storming after me, but I was too ahead of him. I turned around to blow him a raspberry, forcing steam to blow from his ears. But a body was in my path once I looked ahead—Leo!

My feet skidded, and I decelerated just enough to grab my brother in blue and cower behind him. "Ahhh! He's going to kill me, Leo!"

"What the—what?" Leo was baffled as he braced for an angry Raphael charging at him. But my red-banded brother knew when to stop running.

Raph halted just in time to meet Leo's protective stare. I could always count on my oldest brother to stop a fight between Raph and me. When we were little, I used my little-brother powers to hypnotize Leo to always side with me, or maybe he just took pity on me. Nah. Little-brother powers for the win, yo. I used to have him wrapped around my ugly, mutant finger. But since we'd grown older, that sense of power had dwindled. Sensei's training intensified, and Leo became more obsessed with being the best student. He was asked to grow up quicker than the rest of us, and he became immune to my power. Total bummer. Still, seeing he could break off a fight with a single glare was satisfying.

"What is going on out here?" our leader demanded.

"Just Mikey being Mikey," Raph grunted, folding his arms.

"Hey," I whined, "you say that like it's a bad thing."

"It is, you little sewer turd!"

"Knock it off, Raph," Leo said through his teeth. "Sensei is meditating."

Raphael's mouth opened, appalled. "Are you serious, bro? You always take Mikey's side!"

"It's kind of hard not to pity the kid when you're trying to murder him," Leo said, standing his ground before me. The glare was warning number one, and the tough-guy stance was warning number two. The ice was thinning beneath Raph's feet.

I held in a smile when he called me a kid. Darn right, I'm a kid. The cutest kid in New York City's own sewer systems. Little-brother powers, suckah!

Raph noticed the second warning, his eyes darting between Leo and me. He released a slow breath, his exhale low and gravelly like an animal. Finally, he shoved us to the side, marching away, and growled, "fine! Then he's your problem during recon tonight, Fearless."

"What does he mean by that?" Leo asked me, his voice cautious as if scared of the answer.

"Mikey had an energy drink," Donnie answered for me, his back against the large metal door. He grinned slyly at the sight of Leonardo shutting his eyes, tensing his shoulders at this news.

"Mikey," my eldest brother breathed calmly, collecting all of his sanity for what he was about to say next. "We've told you not to drink those."

"But why?" I groaned. Raph already gave me the reasoning, but I was asking because I wanted Leo to answer differently.

Leo's ocean blue eyes studied me, from the top of my head to my feet. He pointed downward and replied, "because of that."

I looked down curiously, noting that I was unknowingly bouncing on my heels. As he pointed this out, I noticed my heart pumping faster than usual.

"It'll be fine, bro. I can channel this into my awesome fighting skills tonight," I said as I punched the air and performed a back flip. I don't know how to explain it, but doing the sudden movement, in addition to my pounding heart, made me feel fulfilled, and I wanted to keep going.

"Tonight is stealth and recon only," my eldest brother explained. I listened to him as I continued to do some katas, my body vibrating. "Do you think you can handle that?"

"Oh yeah," I answered as I jumped and kicked in the air.

Suddenly, Leo swiped his foot under me, and I landed on my shell, dazed. My older brother pinned me down with a serious stare and repeated, "Mikey! Can you handle that?"

I squirmed under his grip, trembling with tremendous excitement coursing through me. I flashed him a toothy smile and nodded. Unconvinced, Leo still let me up, grabbing my hand hard as if warning me. I might not always pay attention, but I knew when Leo was concerned for his brothers. What he lacked in words, he revealed in body language. He said, don't eat your words tonight, little brother, or I'll make you eat them, just by the squeeze he gave my hand.

"Topside. One hour," Leo said, eyeing me and then turning to Donnie. We each gave him an acknowledging nod.

I had an hour to shake away this sudden surge of energy. Luckily, there was a way I could release it. I hooked my headphones to my T-phone and started busting out the hippest break dancing moves I could. The adrenaline felt terrific. Two songs in, and I wasn't even breaking a sweat.

An hour of this and the energy drink should wear off. Take that, Raphael!


Let me know your thoughts. I hope I've got their personalities right. The next chapter should definitely be longer! I hope everyone has a great day!