Mikey
"Michelangelo…"
My eyes shot open, and I sat up. Fear slithered up my shell when I realized I wasn't in the lair where I fell asleep…it seemed I wasn't even on earth. Ghostly fog rested below me, so thick that I couldn't see the surface I was sitting on. Everything else was solid white. I cautiously guided a hand through the fog like I had never seen it before. It's like I wanted to know if it was safe.
"Michelangelo…"
I stood and reached for my chucks, swallowing thickly when I realized they weren't there.
"Do not fear, small one. I will not hurt you."
The voice was genderless, hard to make out. I ticked my head to the side. "Dude, who are you? Where's my family?"
"Your family remains in the material realm."
I blinked, feeling a queasiness in my stomach. "And where am I?"
"The astral realm, of course."
The voice sounded so matter-of-fact, like Donnie explaining to me, well, anything. Maybe this was he and my brothers pulling some kind of joke on me.
"This is not a joke, young one."
There was another lurch in my stomach, and chills permeated my whole body. If I had hair, it'd be standing on the back of my neck. This…whatever it was…entity knew my thoughts. I felt violated and wrapped my arms tight around myself, looking around pointlessly to see a face connected to the voice. To my dismay, all I saw was whiteness and fog.
"You didn't tell me who you are."
"I am simply nothing. I have no physical presence nor a name, but I have existed for centuries."
I began aimlessly walking into the white nothingness. The fog remained still with every stride. "You don't have a name? I've got to call you something, dude."
"You may call me what you want."
I put my finger to my chin thoughtfully. It was hard to place a name on something I couldn't see or touch. I liked to name things based on their appearance or personality. This time was tricky. What was conversing with me was literally nothing…
That's it!
"I've got it! I'll name you Zilch." I beamed, always proud of my sick naming skills.
"Zilch it is."
Yes, they liked it! At least, I thought they did. Zilch seemed to have no emotion. It was starting to bother me, hearing only a monotonous voice ringing in my head.
"Zilch, I have a question. Why am I here, anyway?"
There was an awkward passing of silence before Zilch spoke.
"For so long, I've drifted through the astral realm, longing to come across someone of purpose. It was so dark. Now, I have found my light. You, little one, are who I've been searching for." Suddenly, a yellow beam broke through the white void. Powerful winds rippled through me, the fog unbothered at my feet. I shielded my face, quivering a little at the sight. "My sincerest apologies for the pain I caused you earlier. My energy is too powerful to absorb at once; it must be done in intervals, or I could have seriously damaged your spirit."
"Wait, you gave me those headaches?" I asked. Tears prickled the corners of my eyes from the wind. "What if…what if I don't want to absorb anything? It sounds painful, and I kind of have a low threshold for pain, dude."
"I am sorry, Michelangelo. It is beyond my control just as much as it is beyond yours. When I find my match, the process cannot be undone. All you have to do is walk up to me."
I worked up the nerve to look into the light, awestricken tears lining my eyes at the beauty. It was prettier than a golden sunset falling behind the Brooklyn Bridge. As remarkable as the sight was, fear was still fluttering in my stomach.
"I…I don't want to," I said, my voice crumbling. "I want to go home."
"You cannot escape destiny when it knocks on your door. Everything will be alright. Just walk to my light, and I will guide you through."
I quivered at the need to obey. I gave no permission to my body to move. It was like I was on autopilot, stumbling blindly toward the ball of shimmering light. Tears streamed down my freckled cheeks when I found there was no use in fighting. I was afraid of this power and what it would do to me.
"Please," I begged.
"Oh, Michelangelo. You will be alright."
My hand extended, and I subconsciously yearned to touch the light. No, no, no!
"Michelangelo…"
"…Mikey!"
My eyes shot open when I didn't even know they were closed. I turned my head around, crushed under the weight of panic and fear. One second I was in a white void; the next, I was in… the lab? I was in the same position I last remembered. My arm outstretched, but it reached for the weird weapon we found, the Heiwa no Buki, not a beautiful light at all. Two strong hands held my shoulders when I awoke, and I was yanked around to meet dark brown eyes.
Donnie.
My purple-banded bro looked me over, his forehead wrinkled with worry as the rise and fall of my chest elevated. "Calm down, Mikey. You were dreaming."
"What?" I asked between huffs.
Donnie rubbed my shoulders and waited patiently for my brain to reacquaint reality and anxiety to settle. I was back in the material realm. Or did I ever leave?
"I know I'm not supposed to wake you when you sleepwalk, but you were crying and…scared," Donnie spoke with a sigh. "You haven't sleepwalked since we were little. Are you okay?"
A wave of exhaustion struck me as if I had gotten no benefits from sleep despite my awakening. I collapsed into Donnie, glad to be back home and not in that creepy astral realm. My fear began washing away as I clung to my genius brother, who returned the embrace, but not as tightly as I would have liked. I wanted to be squeezed to death. I wanted my shell to crack in a firm hug.
"I…I don't know." I rubbed away my tears with a sniffle.
"Hey, you're okay. You must be in some kind of delusional state from the lack of sleep. Your body is confused," Donnie said delicately.
My immediate older bro pulled me away. I knew he wasn't much of a hugger, but I wasn't ready to let go. So, I hugged myself, smoothing down my arms with a deep breath.
"Come on, let's get you back to bed."
Haha, funny, D. Sleep is the last thing I want.
To appease my bro, I let him guide me back to my room, though I vowed secretly in my head that I would not be going back to sleep. The lights were off all across the lair. Only the soft light from the lab illuminated the common room we padded through, telling me that it was late.
"What were you dreaming about that got you all spooked?" Donnie asked in a low whisper, careful not to awake my brothers as we passed their rooms.
My eyes fell to the floor as I thought of a reasonable answer. If my bro didn't believe that the Heiwa no Buki was the cause of my headaches, then there was no way in a pizza-less hell that he would believe I was visited by a glowing entity that promised me some kind of power. Ultimately, I released a light-hearted chuckle to ease him.
"Heh, it's totally crazy, bro. I dreamt that I was being guided by a lone samurai unicorn on a quest to find the best pizza in New York. But his other samurai buddies caught up with us and made him unalive. I'll miss Sparkle-san." I looked up at Donnie, searching for a sign that he had bought it.
Donnie's forehead crinkled only for a second, then he rattled his head. "You are an enigma, Michelangelo."
I couldn't tell if that meant he had bought it or if he decided not to pry. Either way, it silenced him for the rest of the trip to my room. Once there, we wished each other goodnight. I'd hoped Donnie would go to bed, but he headed back to the lab instead.
Looks like I wasn't the only one getting little sleep.
Leo
"Yah!"
"Yah!"
"Yah!"
I was so focused that I hardly registered the traditional song of battle cries in the dojo as I sparred with Raphael. My immediate younger brother was fighting with passion today, nothing extremely out of the ordinary, but I could tell he was angry that our lastest search for answers turned up failure last night. Even splitting up into two teams brought no better outcome. Shredder and his band of mutant goons had been silent, which piqued my paranoia.
Didn't they want the Heiwa no Buki back? Perhaps they were planning a big takedown to get it back. Maybe—
"YAH!"
Raph stooped down and picked me up as he avoided my strike, body slamming me on the dojo rugs. I opened my eyes on my shell to find the tip of his sai in between my eyes. He panted, his inhalation fueled by pure anger before he backed up.
"What's the deal, Fearless? Ain't in the game today?" he taunted with a smirk making an appearance on his face.
"Maybe I was going easy on you," I countered with my own grin.
A scowl befell Raphael's features.
"Yow!"
"Ooh, I'm sorry, Mikey!"
I looked over to see Donnie checking over our little brother, who had a scrape across his left bicep that must have been knicked with Don's naginata blade.
"Why didn't you avoid that? I made that too easy for you," Donnie scolded, lifting Mikey's arm for a better examination.
Mikey didn't reply with his gaze locked on something much less important than the current moment. I watched him stifle a wide yawn as he let Donnie wrap some bandages around the wound. My eyes narrowed.
"That is enough for today, my sons," Splinter decided. I didn't blame him; it didn't take just an observant sensei but a father to see that we were off our game—well, at least Mikey and I were.
"Hai, Sensei," we agreed with stiff bows.
My brothers and I dispersed after leaving the dojo. Raph stomped off to his punching bag—it was evident he didn't lash out enough anger at me—and Mikey groggily hobbled to the kitchen, probably to see Ice-Cream Kitty. Before I could take a seat before the tv in the pit, Donatello had a hold of my shell, staring at me with serious brown eyes. He led me to the lab, where he shut the massive doors for privacy. There was usually no need for that, so there must have been something on his mind.
"What's up, Donnie?"
"I typically don't express worry, but I'm concerned about Mikey," Donnie said. I blinked, not expecting that to come out of his mouth. Donnie was already spitting out more before I could think of something to say. "I usually can't get him off my shell when I'm trying to work, but after the other night, he won't even look at the lab, let alone come in."
I tightened my eyes in confusion. "You mean the night we opened the Heiwa no Buki?"
"No," Donnie sighed, running his hand down the back of his head. "The night after, he sleepwalked in here. I woke him up because he was crying, pleading to something—I'm not sure what."
I messaged the bridge of my beak. There was a stressful time in our childhood when Mikey's sleepwalking episodes grew concerning. Sensei was terrified the kid would leave the lair and wake up lost. He made us take turns guarding the entrance to prevent this. It took months for this phase to end. Hearing he was wandering in his sleep again was worrying, let alone hearing about it a day later.
"What? Why didn't you tell me sooner?" I scolded.
Donnie waved his hands, panicking a little at my tone. "I figured it was just a nightmare, a one-time thing! But I don't think he's getting any sleep, Leo. I mean, you saw him during training."
I only nodded in agreeance.
Donnie's eye ridges knitted together, bis brown eyes meeting the ground. "There was something about the way he woke up. He told me it was some goofy dream, but…"
"What is it?" I demanded, frowning at Donnie's loss for words.
"I don't know why, but he was reaching for the Heiwa no Buki."
I stifled a look of surprise, but my eyes broadened before I had control. Mikey had made it clear that he hated the weapon, claiming it 'jacked up his head,' so the thought that he would be subconsciously trying to take it was bewildering.
Suddenly, my stomach lurched with pain. Nausea crept back in, forcing my mouth to water and skin to crawl.
No, no! Not the bad feeling again.
"Leo, you're flushed. Are you okay?" Donnie asked.
My hand instinctively covered my stomach. "I'm fine. I'll talk to Mikey, okay?"
Worry hung over my younger brother's features, probably searching for a way to pry more out of me. When he decided it was hopeless, he nodded solemnly.
Mikey
"Ninjas, fall in!"
I snapped at the sound of Leo's stern order, noting my eyes had been fluttering shut as I sat comfortably in the pit. Thank the pizza gods that he said something, or I would have fallen asleep. I stood at attention and waited for Raph and Donnie to walk in. Leo cleared his throat when we gathered in a circle.
"Alright. Like last night, we're going to split up and try to get some answers," Leo began. I suppressed a whine. Last night was so dull patroling with Raph, especially since Shredder and the mutants were suspiciously avoiding us. "Raph and Donnie take the west, Mikey and I take south."
Wait, what? He flip-flopped routine! I'd been patrolling with Raph on the west side for the past month. My sai-wielding bro shared my surprise, giving me a look that suggested he was also in the dark. Neither of us spoke, however, mutually agreeing to go with it through our stares.
Sewer apples. Annoying Leo wasn't nearly as fun as annoying Raph.
Leo and I traversed the rooftops, our padded footfalls left unheeded through the south side of New York. I trailed behind my big bro with only one rule he drilled in my head: no talking until deemed safe. But ordering me not to talk was like ordering a fish to breathe oxygen; it was impractical. And he knew this. Darn him.
I jumped with a full twist across the rooftops, swallowing an incoming whoop. Raph would have let me shout into the night. I wondered how he and Donnie were doing on my usual turf. Probably having a better time than Leo and me. We'd been running for the past five minutes without a single word spoken.
With all this time passing and no talk, I wondered why he chose me to patrol with tonight. There had to be a purpose my routine-fixated leader picked tonight to switch things up, and I knew it wasn't because he wanted to chill with his favorite little bro either. Raph told me that Leo preferred Donnie to patrol with because he followed orders without argument or having to repeat himself. I didn't want to believe that, thinking Raph was trying to mess with me out of boredom because I won't lie, it may have hurt my feelings…just a little. Yet as the days bled into weeks, I began to believe it.
Leo halted our run atop a barber shop for a breather. I plopped down with my elbows on my knees, panting and longing to lie down and sleep. My big bro could manage his breathing better than me, with his huffing hardly audible under the usual song of the busy streets.
"It's quiet tonight."
I blinked up at him as I realized this was the first thing he'd said to me all night. After craving to speak all through this journey, I was at a loss for words. I was still pondering why I was even here with him, not the boy genius. As these thoughts thronged my head, I couldn't dampen the sudden inhale of a yawn.
A movement on my right forced me to jolt out of my thoughts. It was Leo sitting cross-legged next to me. He half-smiled at my reaction, looking back to a bridge in the distance.
"You're more distracted than usual, otōto. Wanna talk about it?" he offered.
Oh, I get it now.
My shoulders moved up and down, thinking how easy it was to talk that night he came into my bedroom to apologize. I could usually tell Leo anything, but could I bring myself to tell him about the dream?
"I dunno. There's nothing to talk about," I lied.
Leo exhaled quietly. "Okay then, let's talk about your lack of sleep."
"What are you talking about, bro? I sleep like a little kitten every night," I said with a light-hearted chuckle I anticipated he would buy. My façade diminished once Leo's eye ridges were cut down.
"Look, Donnie told me about your sleepwalking episode," he said.
My body went slack, and I looked away, blurting, "So what?"
Leo hesitated before speaking, surprised by my tone. "So, why didn't you come to me about this?"
A flicker of irritation swayed in me like a small candle flame. The exhaustion and stress must have been getting to me because I never got this annoyed at Leo. Like, who was I? Raph? All my past memories of being disregarded bubbled to the surface. The time I told them the Kraang were aliens in robotic exoskeletons. When I suspected April's mom wasn't who she said she was. Every time Leo turned down my ideas. It all fueled the growing fire in my heart.
"I don't have to tell you about every inconvenience in my life, bro. As if you'd believe me anyway," I uttered the last sentence, causing Leo's eyes to widen.
"What was that?" His voice heightened.
"You heard right, son," I spat, rising to the ground. "If I had come to you before Donnie, would you have believed me?"
My leader leveled with me, flashing that stern glare I only saw him give Raph. It faded just as it appeared, his angry moue softening to concern. "What's so hard to believe, Mikey?"
Moisture tickled my eyes as I recalled the radiant energy I was nearly forced to absorb in my dream. Real or not, I refused to tell Leo. I couldn't carry that disappointment if he didn't believe me. Not again.
"Forget it," I hissed, pivoting to stomp away.
Leo yanked my arm back, making me look into the once calm waves of his ocean blue eyes, now stormy and untamed with anger. "What's gotten into you?"
The candle flame inside me became a bonfire. I tore my arm free and shoved Leo away. "Why don't you do what you do best and forget about me?" With that, I fled, bounding off the roof and sprinting in any direction to escape this conversation.
"Mikey, wait!" Leo called.
I ignored him, hearing him chasing after me. He knew I was the fastest, and that's why I picked up the panic in his tone. I soared off the next rooftop, touching down in the backstreet beneath, concealing myself in the shadows, and calmed my footfalls.
"Please!"
Leo's plea seemed a reasonable distance away, telling me I'd already lost him in addition to how desperate he sounded. I'd really hurt him, making my heart twinge with instant guilt. I wanted to stay angry. I tried to. But this wasn't a sensation I was accustomed to. Instead, I felt heartbroken.
I stopped running and rested at a dumpster. The tears building up in my eyes tumbled over my freckles, falling like raindrops on the pavement as I whimpered.
Why can't I stay mad? I deserved to stand up for myself. Leo needed to hear it. So why am I feeling so remorseful?
I took a few minutes to reflect and compose myself, deciding that I should find Leo and speak to him more calmly. Right as I stood, a blinding burst of white engulfed the alley. My heart launched into my throat, thinking it was some kind of rift between the material and astral realm, come to make me absorb the light. But this light was different than the one in my dream and less powerful.
I shielded my face anyhow, screaming into the night, letting out anger, sadness, and confusion all at once as I was drowned in light.
Then, everything stopped, and I dared to look ahead. A familiar shape remained where the light was, his katana-adorned shell facing me. When he pivoted, I beheld white eyes under his blue mask.
But that's impossible. I just left him.
"…Leo?" I squeaked.
I can hear some of you saying, "finally!" right now xD Let me know your thoughts, and I hope you have a great day!
